Universal Social Charge: Bid to make tax less toxic for voters

In the jaundiced eyes of punters pummelled by a succession of tax hikes, the Universal Social Charge is without a shadow of doubt Ireland’s most hated and most politically toxic tax.

A punitive form of taxation payable on gross income, including pensions, the rising tide of resentment towards that detested levy is engendering fear among sitting TDs of the increasingly unpopular Fine Gael-Labour Coalition that they could be thrown out by voters in the next general election.

And indeed they might well be ejected if current opinion poll trends hold. No single thought is more calculated to concentrate a politician’s mind than this dread notion.