Sir, – As a British citizen voting for the first time in an Irish general election, I find myself scratching my head at the positions of political parties I might otherwise be inclined to grant at least some support. As a socialist, and specialist in tax law, I find myself astonished that purported “socialists” here in Ireland are uniformly opposed to the property tax. There could scarcely be a more socialist way of collecting revenue than on static capital. It is usually the best measure of accumulated wealth.
The familiar refrain of the populist masquerading as a socialist is that a property tax “takes no account of ability to pay”. It is true that income is a measure of taxable capacity, but it is most certainly not the only measure, nor is it necessarily the best one.
Tax economists will tell you that progressivity is best measured as a characteristic of the tax system as a whole, as it is far too easy to point to individual taxes and describe them as progressive or regressive. Progressivity can be measured by two means – progressivity to income, and progressivity to wealth. Insofar as the political right favours progressivity at all, it prefers progressivity to income as it exempts all previously acquired wealth from the equation. While the left would normally advocate both approaches be used in tandem, you would expect a strong preference for taxation of wealth as poorer people usually need more of their income than richer people and have very little wealth to tax. For the overwhelming majority of people, the single greatest measure of their wealth is the value of their property – and for socialists around the world it is regarded as one of the fairest ways of measuring taxable capacity.
It is the case that for those with little income, who live in nonetheless valuable houses, scraping together the cash to pay a property tax bill that they did not anticipate previously might be difficult.
For future generations, it should certainly feature in the considerations of those buying houses or planning for retirement.
In the meantime, financial markets provide a litany of products that allow people to realise the capital in their homes. Furthermore, it doesn’t take much imagination to come up with a system that would mitigate this in the interim, such as allowing deferral of property tax payments for pensioners until disposal of the property – which effectively amounts to the state providing a similar product to the market.
I would expect such proposals to be met with cries of “how are we supposed to leave something to our children?” from those on the right.
If you call yourself a “socialist” and subsidising inheritance is your concern, you’re probably not a socialist at all. – Yours, etc,
STUART MacLENNAN,
School of Law,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.
A chara, – A government imposes a tax or charge on the people. People-power objects. Compliant citizens pay, but not because they want to nor because they support a particular political ideology. It’s just what we do when we live together in a democratic society. Now Sinn Féin tells us that, should it hold the reins of power, those who did not pay water charges will not be billed, while those who paid will forfeit what they have paid. The reason? They had a “choice”. So, in a Sinn Féin-run democracy, we can make a choice about what taxes and charges we pay. Mé féin? A recipe for anarchy? – Is mise,
MARIE DUNPHY,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Is there any chance that election candidates and canvassers who choose not to knock on the door and actually engage with me, but decide to ignore the “No Junk Mail” sign on my letterbox and just post leaflets, could at least have the wit to push their literature all the way through said letterbox, thus not causing arctic draughts into my house until such time as I notice and retrieve the unwanted literature?
I would be most appreciative. – Yours, etc,
MAIRÉAD
O’CALLAGHAN,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Patricia Mulkeen (February 9th) asks if the 200,000 jobs promised by 2020 will be (A) full-time and pensionable; or (B) part-time, minimum wage, casual, zero-hour contract positions.
Any of those promised jobs that are “created” in the public sector will be in category A; any in the private sector will be in category B. – Yours, etc,
VINCENT MacCARTHY,
Athboy, Co Meath.
A chara, – I am curious as to why Fianna Fáil Dublin Rathdown candidate Mary White’s enthusiasm for hosting year-round public meetings, which afforded her the year-round right to have her face up on posters announcing the meetings in my area, has come to a sudden halt.
This happened almost overnight since the election date was announced. Her face is still up there yet it is purely for canvassing purposes in the upcoming election. Her dedication to public meetings seems to have diminished.
I’m guessing issues such as cutting the inheritance tax and global climate change, which she had such grave concerns about, must now be resolved. – Is mise,
NIALL Ó DOMHNAILL,
Baile Átha Cliath 14.
Sir, – I note that the National Women’s Council of Ireland has called for a campaign in which women are judged on what they say and do and not on how they look. Why then are the photos of several women candidates looking down at me from local lampposts so airbrushed that the candidate is barely recognisable in the flesh? – Yours, etc,
PAT GRIFFIN,
Lucan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Most people are tired of the present dynastic political system. All of the major parties are guilty of this – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and even Labour. They act as if their own families have a divine right to a seat in their constituencies by inheritance.
I feel many of us would vote for real political change. It is indeed unfortunate that the left – Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Anti-Austerity Alliance and People Before Profit – and other candidates cannot drop their petty differences and present a real alternative to the electorate.
There is still time for them to get together and do this. If not we are facing a right-wing Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil coalition government, and yet more austerity and kowtowing to the ruling class of European bankers. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MAHON,
Templeogue, Dublin 6W.
Sir, – I had a local Limerick politician strategically placed on a pole opposite my bedroom but Storm Imogen took care of him. – Yours, etc,
NICOLA O’KEEFFE,
Corbally, Limerick.
Sir, – The conflict between making a decision to vote for two excellent local candidates in the forthcoming election, which falls into the culture of parochial politics, or electing two locally ineffective candidates, in order to indicate my preference for central government, has become a dilemma. – Yours, etc, – Yours, etc,
AILEEN TURVEY,
Howth, Co Dublin.
Sir, – As the election campaign heats up, it now looks like Fine Gael and Labour may not achieve an overall majority.
What about a Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil coalition?
It would bury Civil War politics for good. It would end the prospect of a repeat general election looming in 12 months or so, and avoid special deals with so-called Independents.
Alan Dukes’s Tallaght strategy was surely before its time.
Let us take a leaf out of his book and give the country what it needs most – more stability and more confidence to put our country first. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN KANE,
Knockloughlin,
Co Longford.
A chara, – Remember Plato. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. – Is mise,
EDEL COSTELLOE,
Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Sir, – I fully concur with the sentiments expressed by Peter Molloy ( February 10th).
In 2011, we had income of €0.60 for every euro of expenditure, a gulf that seemed at that time unbridgeable. Faced with the inevitable cuts necessary to reduce the deficit and repay our huge borrowings, something oppositions have erroneously equated with a chosen policy of austerity, the government did at least maintain the basic rates of social welfare, a huge achievement in itself. We are now approaching break-even in day to day spending, something that did not occur by accident but as a result of a determination to continue with prudent management of the economy, despite the sustained unpopularity it engendered. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK HOWARD,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.