Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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89. To ask the Minister for Finance if it is possible that some persons will end up paying the universal social charge on their pension twice (details supplied). [28829/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The position is that the Universal Social Charge (USC) was introduced from 1 January 2011 to replace the Income Levy and the Health Levy. It was a necessary measure to widen the tax base, remove poverty traps and raise revenue to reduce the budget deficit. The USC is an annual tax payable on an individual's total income in a year, subject to a number of exemptions and reliefs. In particular, an individual is not liable to pay USC where his or her total income in the tax year does not exceed €10,036. In addition, payments from the Department of Social Protection such as the State Pension are exempt from the USC and such payments will not be taken in to account in determining if an individual has exceeded the €10,036 threshold.

In addition, individuals in receipt of a full medical card or aged 70 and over, provided their total income does not exceed €60,000, are not liable to the top rate of charge.

In computing the USC payable in a year, contributions to a pension fund are not taken into account to reduce the amount of USC payable as would be the case with income tax. As such, the USC payable by an employee is charged on the person's gross income.

Pensions other than state pensions, made by any state or territory, form part of an individual's income for USC purposes.