Tipperary councillors lobby ministers to scrap USC tax in Budget

Tipperary County Council’s elected members have called on Finance Minister Jack Chambers and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe to abolish the Universal Social Charge tax in the Budget in October.

A motion requesting both ministers to scrap the USC tax, introduced in 2010 at the height of the economic crash, was passed at the Council’s July meeting and has been forwarded to them by the Council.

Clonmel Workers & Unemployment Action Group Cllr Pat English proposed the motion and it was seconded by Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne.

Cllr English described the USC tax as “unfair” in his motion and told the Council meeting a recent Red C poll found that 60% of people questioned want the Government to scrap the charge.

He argued the Government should respond to the wishes of the majority of people and abolish this “deeply unpopular” tax.
Temporary

He pointed out the USC, also known as the “Bail Out” tax, was intended to be a temporary tax when introduced by former Finance Minister, the late Brian Lenihan, as the country fought its way out of the financial crisis over a decade ago.

He recalled that former Fine Gael Taoiseach Leo Varadkar Tweeted back in 2016 that his party intended to abolish the tax and former Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe also tweeted in favour of its abolition but it never happened.