Discussion: Why are people paying the local property tax (LPT )?

hardgoer said:

its not a fair tax as some of you have put it, i will be in the B category but if i was living in a city my house would be valued higher and have to pay more even if i was earning the same whats fair about that.

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Depend on your definition of fair.

My definition might be that I get what I pay for in terms of funding local services.

Your definition might be that I must pay in line with what I can afford.

Someone else might decide that people who can afford more expensive houses are wealthier and can therefore pay more.

On a very simplistic level, they all seem like reasonable points. But there are endless examples of how they all conflict.

The only way this tax can be thought of is that as a nation of 4.5m people we need to pay enough tax to fund our expenditure. Taxes / revenues are raised in numerous ways:

• Tax on Earned income from employment
• Tax on Rental Income
• Tax on Dividend Income
• Tax on Deposit interest, coupons from bonds and equity dividends
• Corporation Profits taxation
• VAT on spending
• Capital gains tax
• Capita acquisitions tax
• TV Licence
• Other licence fees
• Profits from state owned organistaions
• Property tax
• Stamp duty
• Excise duty
• Green taxes
• Tolls

The list goes on an on. It is fair that the aggregation of these taxes should enable us to cover government spending. It's very hard, and frankly a little pointless, to objectively declare why any particular tax above should be more fair to levy than any other one.

Why I am not paying? It is one of the worst most regressive taxes that could be levied. What are they doing with the portion of my money that I already pay in a relatively fair form of progressive tax e.g. income tax, that previously funded local services? I think we all know the answer to that question and it is a thundering disgrace.

They have no mandate for this highly regressive unfair LPT tax that must be resisted at all costs. The paltry level of returns Revenue are receiving for the LPT is heartening and as soon as any action is taken against anyone such will be the negative impact for the incumbent parties (currently in government but not for long)this undemocratic tax will be repealed.

Feb 2011 Fine Gael manifesto page 60 "We think an annual recurring charge on the Family Home would be unfair etc". They went on to suggest ways that they would fund local government. Within months Phil Hogan announced the introduction of the Household charge which would lead to an annual recurring Property Tax on the family home.

Democracy has been brought into contempt by both the Thatcherite party and the Fine Gael party in government. It is morally justifiable for the LPT to be boycotted!

I am paying the property tax because it is a tax decided on by our legitimate Government.

In my view, not paying the tax is tax evasion a la Ansbacher et al.

If you want to change the tax, then change the Government, legitimately.