Are you a cross border worker? If so, you need to check out the changes in your Universal Social Charge (USC) liability before you file your 2012 tax return. In the 2011 tax year, Revenue treated ‘frontier workers’ who travelled from another EU Member State (for example, Northern Ireland) to work in this State as being automatically entitled to a full medical card, and as a result were generally charged the lower 4% USC. This is no longer the case. Revenue say that following an examination of the relevant EU legislation and discussions with the HSE, there is, in fact, no entitlement for such treatment.
From the 2012 tax year, then, people who hold Northern Ireland medical cards will no longer be treated as holding a full medical card and therefore won’t qualify for the 4% USC rate. Instead, they will be liable for the normal maximum 7% USC rate, and if they have earned over €100,000 in self-employment income in a particular tax year, the 10% rate of USC will apply to that income.
For full details from the Revenue site, click here.