Sir, – When we look back on the Celtic Tiger era we tend to admit that we lost the run of ourselves and lost our sense of community. Those days are gone, but many are as deluded as ever.
Six years ago I paid €10,000 in property tax aka stamp duty for a small ex-council house in a litter-strewn estate in the suburbs of Dublin. I thought this tax was unfair and excessive, but I had no choice in the matter if I was to buy this house. Stamp duty was unsustainable and artificially inflated the Irish economy.
Last night I paid €100 in property tax aka household charge for the same house, which I am soon to vacate. I think this tax is fair and reasonable. Not only that, its successor will be an annual charge, which is sustainable and will help our economy and boost our communities.
Meanwhile, the pseudo-socialists of the Opposition whinge about this relatively paltry property tax.
Why is Mick Wallace so vocal now when I am required to pay €100 but said nothing when I was required to pay the square of that amount? Did Dara Calleary object when I was obliged to contribute €10,000 to the exchequer when Fianna Fáil held the purse strings?
Every modern successful Western democracy has an annual property tax. It is a sustainable tax on capital to the benefit of society. If we are ever to join the ranks of those flourishing nations we need a property tax. Nobody likes actually paying tax, but sustainable taxation is to the benefit of all. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I realise the need for the Government to raise money in order to pay for the huge amounts of money lost to us by bankers and a negligent government, and as such have only one objection to paying this money. It is inequitable.
Why should a person in the lower bracket of income pay the same amount as, for example, Bono: it is just another case of it’s easier to do it this way; so why not base it on the household income, and bracket it; those earning under for example €20,000 don’t pay and those over €30,000 pay €100 while those on €40,000 pay €150 and so on.
I won’t be paying it until it is equitable, and then I have no objections. – Yours, etc,