Levy to take €500 a year from pensions

THE Government is to take €2,000 from hundreds of thousands of workers’ private pensions over the next four years under a new levy.

Under legislation that will be passed next week, more than 750,000 private pension holders will be hit with the annual levy of 0.5%-0.6%, which will cost them an average of €500 per year for at least the next four years.

The levy, which will not apply to public service pensions, is expected to bring an extra €2 billion into the Exchequer between now and 2014.