3 September 2009 Edition
Tax report outdated - Government
The report from the 26 County Commission on Taxation, which is now being published, is completely out of date. The Commission were sent off in 2008 with a set of terms that read like a Fianna Fáil wish list – for example, keeping the overall tax take low.
To ensure that income tax can be kept low which, with the income levy, is now a myth anyway – the Commission is due to set out a range of household taxes which will disproportionately affect the less well off.
The tax system must be structured in a way where those who have the most, pay the most, not in a way that spreads tax across the board with blunt instruments like flat water and property taxes. There is also a need to look at forms of taxation, such as wealth taxes, that Fianna Fáil have done their best to keep off the agenda for obvious reasons.
The fact that the only trade union member on the board refused to sign the report, says much about its content.
Sinn Féin will be submitting a range of measures in its pre-budget submission later this year to deal with the state’s economic problems, but these will not include cuts to essential services. The party will include sensible taxation measures which it has demanded for years and which, if implemented earlier, would have protected us from the economic mess we’re in now.
To ensure that income tax can be kept low which, with the income levy, is now a myth anyway – the Commission is due to set out a range of household taxes which will disproportionately affect the less well off.
The tax system must be structured in a way where those who have the most, pay the most, not in a way that spreads tax across the board with blunt instruments like flat water and property taxes. There is also a need to look at forms of taxation, such as wealth taxes, that Fianna Fáil have done their best to keep off the agenda for obvious reasons.
The fact that the only trade union member on the board refused to sign the report, says much about its content.
Sinn Féin will be submitting a range of measures in its pre-budget submission later this year to deal with the state’s economic problems, but these will not include cuts to essential services. The party will include sensible taxation measures which it has demanded for years and which, if implemented earlier, would have protected us from the economic mess we’re in now.