Ok, so lets supposed we increased Corporation Tax to 20% and increase employers PRSI to 15%. That should increase the tax take and make everything ok, shouldn't it?? Ah no I think is the answer to that as
- multinationals flood out of the country and taking all of their corporation tax with them.
- well paid staff lose their jobs and end up having to claim social welfare
- we end up with a reduction in Corporation Tax payments, a reduction in PRSI payments and an increase in social welfare payments
But that's ok, as the new Inheritance Tax will sort all of that out. Of course, you'd have to exclude productive assets such as businesses, farms etc so that the only way those who got left an inheritance could pay for it was by selling that productive asset. You'd also want to exclude things like life insurance payouts (otherwise, what's the point of that?) and to try and find someway to protect the vulnerable dependents so that they don't become a draw on the state.
And that's of course before you try and stop people investing overseas to protect their assets. Overall, it doesn't really inspire a lot of people to grow their wealth and try and improve their families lives in the future, does it?
And of course, CGT on the sale of the principle private residence is going to have zero impact on the ability of people to move up the ladder so to speak.
But of course, none of that matters since our productive economy where is doesn't matter if anyone works or not and where we can borrow money at negative interest rates will just keep on rolling along.
Maybe we should just all invest in Crypto since obviously that bubble is never going to burst, it it?
And yes, I am being a wee bit sarcastic...........