TAX:THERE IS 82 per cent support for the introduction of a wealth tax, according to research commissioned by the Community Platform.
The platform is a coalition of 29 community action and other campaigning organisations. The group said a “nationally representative” sample of 1,016 respondents aged above 15 was asked by Ipsos MRBI whether the Government should impose the tax on individuals with net worth of more than €1 million and an annual income of more than €100,000.
“A total of 82 per cent of the respondents agreed the Government should introduce this tax. Interestingly, high levels of support were reflected across all age-groups, regions and social classes,” the group said.
“We believe that those with significant wealth in Ireland must be required to pay their share, and the four-year plan refuses to tackle this issue head-on,” said spokeswoman Anne Costello.
Among those surveyed, 85 per cent of women either agreed “strongly or slightly” with the proposition, compared to 79 per cent of men. Disagreement in the Dublin region was 17 per cent, compared to Connacht-Ulster at 8 per cent.
“In terms of social class, most likely to answer yes to the question, with 80 per cent, was the lowest social class category – 73 per cent of whom agreed strongly. It was those from the highest social class category who were more likely to strongly disagree at 21 per cent, 14 per cent of which disagreed strongly,” the group said.
Community Platform’s Siobhán O’Donoghue said: “We need to find ways of ‘following the money’, in terms of who pays, but also where actually the money and resources are located.”
Financial consultant Peter Mathews said the wealth tax proposal was “a fresh way of looking at how we raise revenues . . . it’s not just for the State, it’s for society.” Comparing the recession in Ireland to the Battle of Britain, Mr Mathews said there was “the same feeling of ‘can we fight for our survival, can we assert ourselves?’ The values that our parents had seem to have been eroded,” he added.