The proposed property tax which is mooted as a possibility for the next budget comes as no surprise given the Taoiseach’s recently stated regrets that he did not introduce this tax already.
Working people and the recently unemployed will be distraught at the news that while struggling to pay a mortgage on a vastly overpriced home that a tax on that property could also be demanded of them.
The figures discussed in terms of the level of the charge range from several hundred to several thousands of euro annually. Whatever formulation is arrived at this new tax would be an unbearable burden on working people and unemployed. We can be sure that like other charges on the home, waivers would be temporary and the charge would increase if allowed to be imposed.
However, as with the water charges, the property tax would face organised opposition in the communities. For many householders it would not simply be a question of voluntary refusal to pay but rather, to recall the slogan of the British Anti Poll Tax Campaign, a case of “Can’t Pay – Won’t Pay”. The Socialist Party’s sister party in Britain was at the core of that campaign which led to 18 million people refusing to pay and the political demise of Margaret Thatcher.
Like the public spending cutbacks this debate is yet again framed as a narrow set of false choices. The vast sources of unearned wealth in this country in the form of profits if taxed at the same effective rate as wages would represent a start in protecting the incomes of working people against pay cuts and regressive taxes. This is not to mention the €22 billion poured into the black hole that is Anglo Irish Bank.
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