From the Irish Independent today, Michael Brennan writes: Households face taxes on property and water.
This has been coming down the tracks for some time now and appears likely to be introduced in some format.
I think Water charges will be first.
I have no problem with this...if every house was metered, the minimum charge was abolished, Council leaks were repaired and we all only paid for what we actually used.
At present, the broad-brush Minimum charge gives no incentive to save water.
Without meters, I fear the introduction of a Flat Tax which again, will do nothing to reward the careful consumer.
So charge away for what we use, but meter first.
pfq.ie
In a typical year a fairly average person has to pay the government
ReplyDeletePAYE, PRSI, Income Levy, Health Levy, Pension Levy, Benefit in Kind, Carbon tax, Motor Tax, Road Tolls, VHI, VAT, VRT, DIRT, Excise Duty, Airport tax, Stamp Duty, Capital Gains Tax, Betting Tax, Second Home Tax, Bin Charges, Service Charges, TV License, Bank Card Duty, Plastic Bag Levy, Insurance Levy, Bank Levy (from the first AIB bailout), Gift Tax, Inheritance Tax and that's just what I can recall.
On top of that we have to pay for private companies to provide our healthcare, maintain our housing estates, provide parking facilities, and lots of other services that the above taxes used to pay for but don't any more.
Now in the next year or so they want us to pay water tax, property tax, a new compulsory state pension, additional road tolls and no doubt extra income taxes and as many new charges as they can think up.
And in exchange we get closed hospitals, bigger class sizes, crumbling roads, overcrowded prisons, mass unemployment etc, etc, oh and Anglo Irish Bank.
We are a HIGH tax low service heartless economy where a few politicians and civil servants at the top feather their nests and centralise all state services around their locality while the rest of the population slip towards both financial and service poverty.
Now I'm a committed centrist capitalist. I am in no way radical at any end of the spectrum but I really fear that this government will not last to the next election before the people revolt and drag them from office.