Levy will cause ‘huge uncertainty’ for retired people

THE Taoiseach has defended the new private pension levy as Age Action warns that it will cause “huge financial uncertainty for retired people who had made plans based on a defined income”.

The 0.6% levy was introduced to fund Tuesday’s Jobs Initiative and will be deducted from private pensions twice a year for the next four years. It is not being applied to public sector pensions.

Speaking in the Dáil, Enda Kenny said: “The pensions referred to here were built up with massive tax reliefs over years and most of them are involved in overseas assets,” he said.