The true amount of arrears

Agree Potnoddler.

The vast majority of people I know haven't paid and have no intention of paying. Nobody has contacted them about paying either. I feel sorry for the people who have paid up because they have helped build a data base that will keep coming back to them for more and more of their hard earned cash. No offence but they have turned themselves into mere cash cows.

As someone who has always paid every tax and charge I must agree with the last two posts.
I'm angry at the fact I've paid - not because I've paid but because I see the govnt still doing absolutely nothing about those who haven't.

If I pay the 2013 charges whilst those who still haven't paid the 2012 charges get off then I'm not just a cash-cow but a complete idiot.

The ones who haven't paid will get away with it. There is no way a bankrupt country can bring 500K people to court nor jail them.

The ones who aren't paying their mortgages, will also get away with it. There is no way a bankrupt country can reposess 250K homes nor sell them in falling market.

So we have created a society where everyone pays what they want or feel they should pay.

People who have not paid will get caught out where they have to sell, where there is probate and where a bank takes back a property to sell. Government is going to make a lot of money on these.

It looks like this property tax is going to be taken out of Paye income, and no doubt when they have that up and running they will go back for arrears and penalties.

The problem with waiting for someone to die or sell is that it could decades before getting the money. which the Troika may not allow.
I quite prefer the idea of paying when I'm dead -I've got a bit of property ;cash is my problem.

There are so many more direct actions the govnt could take...
For example, I cannot understand why a utility company provides gas/electricty unless it has a verifiable property charge receipt. Not too hard to set up in this computerised age. No property charge payment = no gas/electricity.

Tell me Bronte - You don't have to reveal where you live (though I'm sort of curious aftr all these years) but how do the authorities make sure you've paid your property tax?

Well I think here people are just generally tax complaint. If you don't pay a bill, say cable, after two or so weeks they send you the bill again but now it's got an extra 10 Euro on it. If you don't pay your phone or ESB on time it will be cut off, they don't bother with warning letters, so everybody pays those by direct debit, as you could easily forget if you go on holidays. Bureaucracy is horrendous, far worse than Ireland. So I guess people don't want to deal with the hassle as it will only cost you if you don't comply.

Also we can see where the money goes. The services are excellent. They are forever doing up the roads, making the neighbourhoods better. Very envirnomentally friendly. I mentioned a story about how fast they dealt with a water leak, on a bank holiday on here. A sibling in Ireland told me last weekend they cut off the water for the full weekend, lied about putting it back on for a few hours on Saturday, which they didn't. No idea why it was cut off, they said a leak, my sibling thinks they did it on purpose to get overtime. It was still not on at lunchtime Monday. That just wouldn't happen here unless we were informed etc. A bit of snow does cause problems but it's sorted out rapid. As far as I can tell they don't run out of salt, they plan in advance etc.


There is a black economy but they've put steps in place against it. I won't go fully into it, but let's take the business that are cash in Ireland that are notorious. Here I don't believe restaurants can hide how much they are earning, ditto for home help, if you call a tradesman he will give you a 5 page quotation, you have to sign a contract and he will give you a proper numbered receipt. There are ways around this with for example Polish (etc) but they are wary of being caught, so will not do outside work like painting. My understanding is that they are afraid of being reported. So maybe they have an ethos of reporting. They're is a civic pride. For examply my mother 5 times tried to plant a creeper on her outside wall and had to give up as it was just vandalised each time. People can put out hanging baskets and pot plants directly on the footpath and nobody will steal or vandalise them. Not sure about the inner cities, there are of course bad areas.

Gavin the gardner did up a few towns in Ireland, putting in trees in towns, but they had to be quickly protected by metal, outside my door last year they planted about 50 trees on the street, no protection and no one will damage them. There is good and bad in every country.

You'll be interested in this Oldnick, this is the place to be a landlord, tenant's are responsible for basically everything, gardening, keeping hedges to level of what it was when you rented, 3 month deposit, no such thing as wear and tear really. You have to paint the place when you leave and it has to be spotless, and I mean spotless, you cannot ring up the landlord to change a lightbulb (I'm sure you've had those tenants), or service the boiler or fix the toilet. Only thing landlord seems liable for is the structure. It makes for a very stable housing environment. Also furnished is very unusual.

I've no doubt the state will get it's revenue , their hefty pensions rely on it, but to roll over as a people and accept extra taxation to fund gambling debts of foreign banks is immoral
No one should have registered , although I accept that landlords were already registered with the 2nd home tax

Bronte - do you have a spare room for me ?

Nicholas faraway hills are not always greener as you know well. Look at a place you're half from , we'd all love to retire to Greece but as you pointed out you cannot live there due to poor infrastructure and basics. Ireland is not all bad, it's a very friendly place, very family orientatied all told. The infrastructure has changed so dramatically it's unreckonisable.