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Universal Social Charge (USC)

  1. Overview
  2. Payments and income exempt from USC
  3. Standard rates and thresholds of USC
  4. Reduced rates of USC
  5. Other rates of USC
  6. Calculating your USC
  7. USC between spouses, civil partners and on maintenance payments
  8. How USC affects redundancy payments

Overview

USC is a tax payable on your total income. Depending on your circumstances, you pay USC at the standard rate or the reduced rate. Total income for USC purposes includes things such as:

If your total income exceeds €13,000, you pay USC on your full income. There are some types of income that are exempt.

You are allowed to deduct Capital allowances for plant and machinery and certain buildings before USC is calculated. 

There is no relief from USC for employee pension contributions.

You can see examples of how to calculate your USC in the ‘Calculating your USC’ page of this section.

Note

If your circumstances change, for example, if you are granted a medical card, you should contact Revenue.

Next: Payments and income exempt from USC

Published: 01 January 2024 Print this page

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