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Property tax may be taken from social payments
Deducting the property tax at source from Social Protection payments has been discussed by high ranking civil servants, documents released to RTÉ‘s The Week in Politics have revealed.
Minutes of a meeting between officials say it poses a challenge to deliver this on time, and policies must be “resolved” to see how much can be deducted from payments.
In order to make the deduction, Revenue said it would need information from the Department of Social Protection‘s customer files.
More resources would also be required by the Department of Social Protection, the minutes, released under the Freedom of Information Act, state.
The matter was discussed when the Department of Social Protection and Revenue’s “High Level Steering Group” met on 27 September. They are set to meet again on 13 December, after the Budget.
Fr Seán Healy of Social Justice Ireland said that there is no justification for taking part of the property tax from Social Protection payments.
He said that 88% of people aged 66 and over would be in poverty without the Old Age Pension.
via Property tax may be taken from social payments – RTÉ News.
via Property tax may be taken from social payments – RTÉ News.
Report recommends child benefit reductions –
Child benefit payments could be cut to around €100 per child each month according to a report compiled by an advisory group to the Social Protection Minister.
The proposal could save up to €200m a year
The report seen by RTÉ‘s The Week in Politics programme recommends what it calls a two-tier child benefit system.
It would see a cut to the universal payment with top up payments then made available to low income families.
The report says this proposal could save up to €200m a year.
Currently, child benefit is paid at €140 per child for the first two children, the third child receives €148, while €160 is paid for the fourth and subsequent children.
In last year’s budget, the Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said the rates would be standardised to €140 for all children over the next two years.
