Universal social charge unlikely to be scrapped: report

The controversial tax appears to be valued by government ministers including Brendan Howlin and Michael Noonan

THE UNIVERSAL SOCIAL charge is unlikely to be scrapped by the government despite the expectation that the measure would be shelved following a review.

The expectation now is that the government will retain the tax in December’s budget after the Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin outlined to the Sunday Business Post the significant contribution the €420 million raised from it makes to the exchequer.

The universal social charge was introduced in the last budget by the previous government. It rolled the health and income levies into one and is applicable on income over €4,000.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan recently said that the charge was “one of the more progressive taxes one will find” but it has been unpopular and a review was promised in the programme for government.

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