Top earners must pay 45% tax, say Greens

PEOPLE earning over 100,000 a year should be subject to a top rate of tax of 45%, the Green Party said yesterday.

Launching its pre-budget submission, Party Finance spokesman, Dan Boyle, said

the Coalition Government could no longer continue to propagate the myth that great public services could be supplied with low taxes.

Sinn Féin, which also launched a separate submission yesterday, called for a 50% “super tax” band for income over 100,000.

For the Green Party, Mr Boyle said his party also favoured a new middle band of tax of 33% but only to be applied to 1,000 of taxable income.

The submission also called for the immediate ending of tax breaks on holiday homes, car parks, private hospital and pensions as well as for the racing industry. The only exception, it argued, was S481 relief on film-making.

Other key proposals to increase funding for public services include a one-year moratorium on payments to the National Pensions Fund as well as an increase in the budget deficit from 1.5% to 2%. This would help fund public transport infrastructure.

Mr Boyle pointed to recent figures that showed that 30 of the top 400 earners paid no tax and another 64 paid less than 10%.

“Stealth taxes are inequitable because the poor and low paid bear the greatest burden.”

The focus of the Greens’ approach was to remove inequality from the current system and to move away from labour-based taxes to energy taxes.

Eamonn Ryan said the Greens strongly supported a carbon tax.

While adding 0.6% to the consumer price index, this could be compensated by reductions in PRSI and VAT, as well as social welfare increases.

Cllr Deirdre de Búrca listed an increase of 12 in child benefit, a repeal of the 58 million in welfare cuts, and an increase for the carers’ allowance.