From January 2012 you will be asked to pay a €100 a year household tax. This tax is unfair and unjust. It is unfair because the low paid worker and the very wealthy pay the same charge – taxes should be progressive; the more you earn or the more wealth you have, the more you should pay.
It is unjust and undemocratic because it is being imposed by the IMF-EU agreement. This is just another way of making us pay for the bail out of the banks. €100 is just the start. The Government think-tank, ESRI, predicts that a property tax will rise to €700/800 and that water charges which will be introduced in 2014 could be a further €500 per year.
It is currently proposed that council houses will be excluded from the charge. But we must remember that full waivers for the bin tax soon disappeared. The government is proposing to spend over €1 billion installing meters – money that should instead be used to upgrade the water system. Between 30% and 50% of water is currently being lost due to leaking pipes.
People Before Profit will be involved in organising meetings in October to start a campaign against this tax.