A review of the Universal Social Charge (USC), as committed to under the Programme for Government, was published by the Department of Finance at the end of last month. It's much more than that however – it is possibly the clearest official document yet to set out the evolution of income tax over the past ten years and where the discontinuities and gaps are.

The Review is dated November 2011 and predates Budget 2012 measures. The headline figures are that approximately 514,000 more income earners will be paying the USC in 2011 than had paid the Income Levy or Health Levy. The yield from the charge in a full year will be €4 billion.

The terms of the Review were to have special regard to the impact of the USC on:

• The lower paid;
• Persons over 65s;
• Medical Card Holders;
• Widows / Widowers;
• Self-employed – higher rate;
• Public Service pensioners;
• Employer contributions to PRSAs; and,
• Any other issues (including any operational issues that have arisen in the administration of the charge), notably the cumulative basis being introduced this year.

The Review examines and also costs options for changes in relation to the above areas. Apparently outside the scope of the report is the use of the USC to recoup what Government apparently believes are over generous property reliefs, as promised in Budget 2012.

The Review runs to some 65 pages and is published on the Department of Finance website http://www.finance.gov.ie