21 August 2009. Proposed new taxes on home-owners including a potential €1,000 property tax will severely delay the recovery in housing market and push many households into the poverty sector, the Chief Executive of the Institute of Professional Auctioneer & Valuers said today. Fintan McNamara was reacting to a leaked report of the Commission on Taxation which suggested a property tax of an average of €1,000 per household, a carbon tax on energy use, water charges and the phasing out of tax relief on bin charges. “All these new taxes could easily amount to €3,000 or more per annum and would place an undue burden on many ordinary families already under severe pressure from the economic downturn,” he said. Mr McNamara said that if Stamp Duty was being removed altogether, then a tax credit should be given to buyers who paid huge sums in home purchases within the past five years when property prices were at their peak. “The Government and the Minster for Finance must engage with all sectors of society for a full and comprehensive debate on these proposals before making any decisions,” he said. “Taken as outline in the leaked reports, these taxes would put many households straight into the poverty sector which would cause undue burden on social welfare and on voluntary organisations such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul.” Now that the report has been leaked, Mr McNamara called on the Government to publish the report of the Commission in full at the earliest possible opportunity and to engage in a frank debate on its contents both inside and outside the Houses of the Oireachtas. Ends |