High earners will escape pension levy, admits Taoiseach

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has today admitted that some high earners will escape paying the Government new pension levy.

The levy will see the government take €1.8bn from private pension holders over the next four years.

But people who hold so called Approved Retirement Funds, which are mostly for wealthy employees, will not have to pay the levy.

The Department of Finance says that ARFs are not included because they are not technically classed as pension funds.

"Well these are not actually pension funds, they’re similar in nature, but they’re not free of tax either," said Mr Kenny, speaking in Dublin where he launched a new Irish goods website Siopa.com.

"The pension levy is temporary, for a four-year period, at 0.6%.

"The notional taxation that applies ... is a permanent fixture, so they’re not actually covered under the pension fund category."