Comments on: The Issue of Tax Fairness

By: SOS

SOS — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:22:05 +0000

Taxation could be slashed immediately by reducing the size of Government to 1 TD per 80,000 of population and reducing the Cabinet to six Ministers.
A proportionate reduction in Civil Service support would further reduce the cost to be borne by the PAYE sector & the non-sheletered sectors of the workforce.

The replacement of Corporation Profits Tax with a Distributed Profits Tax would be simple to administer & would eliminate the fraudulent manipulation of Government Grants etc.

A Consumption Tax – to replace the tax on work – would collect from the entire population.

As Simon says, “VAT is not on basic items such as food child clothes” (sic).

A graded system to reflect the differentials between basics & non-essentials would put an end to the tax-free benefits of the Black Economy; crime; non-residents etc. that seem to engage the energies of so many social commentators.

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

By: ESargeant

ESargeant — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 09:09:33 +0000

VAT does hit those with small incomes worse and is a regressive tax. Basic taxation policy should always be principled around ability. For me review would include Corpo up a little, VAT down, Cap Gains same, big inheritence tax, stamp duties significantly lowered, and another band on income for those salaried on more than €100k, as for the tax avoidance parasites – execution.

By: simon

simon — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:19:32 +0000

VAT is not on many basic items such as food child clothes. So I don’t think it hits the poor as much as some people think it does. Also I never heard of the government increasing the VAT on many things. The increase has come from increased spending not increased tax. Also it should be cut. I think I wrote that before.

By: Cian

Cian — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:58:10 +0000

Also is anyone else worried that the dept of finance seems congenitally incapable of accurately predicting how much they will get in tax each year? Its an old chestnut but surely its bad for government practice to undershoot so often? even though it has spinmasters rubbing hands in glee.

Bertie must still be looking over his shoulder for the third socialist and have cowen keeping guard ; )

By: P O'Neill

P O'Neill — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 14:43:26 +0000

On a related note, I wondered if Cowen was using the figures to maintain Bertie’s claimed credentials as one of Ireland’s remaining socialists:

Mr Cowen said that the growing importance of capital taxation reflected a desire by the Government to change the structure of taxation away from dependence on income tax.

“I’m proud of the fact that I’m getting three times more from capital taxes than the Labour Party minister who was there 10 years ago,” he said yesterday.

The definition of capital taxation though is not the one that Marx would have used, as Brian is referring to revenue from housing and not profits. Anyway, the problem of dependence of revenue on the housing boom will get worse if housing really does downturn, and then the question of how to replace the revenue — VAT, income tax, or, God forbid, profits, will be even more to the fore.