Tax hikes on cards for higher earners, junior finance minister suggests

High earners can afford to pay more in tax, a Fine Gael minister has said.

Brian Hayes, who holds the junior finance portfolio, gave the clearest signal yet that top incomes would be targeted in the December budget. He was responding to calls from some Labour TDs to raise an extra €71m a year by raising the universal social charge to 10% for people earning above €100,000.

“I think there is some room at the top to pay a little bit more — whether we would do it that way or not is another question,” Mr Hayes told Newstalk.