Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:

“Report on abolition of universal social charge 3.Within 6 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall produce a report on the benefit of abolishing the universal social charge on all income below €90,000 and replacing it with 4 new income tax bands for income earned between, €100,000 and €140,000; €140,000 and €180,000; €180,000 and €250,000; and over €250,000.”.

The amendment seeks to require the Minister to produce a report on the abolition of the USC for all income under €90,000 and, simultaneously, the introduction of new income tax bands for income above €100,000. We have proposed such a measure for a number of years. The USC continues to be a hated tax for workers. I accept that the Minister will argue it is a good means of catching income, which it is, relative to income tax. Nevertheless, the idea is to convert the USC from being something that hits everybody to being a higher income social charge that hits only those earning more than €90,000. It was originally intended to be an emergency tax because of the crisis but it has become central to the projected revenue of the Department of Finance.