Tax on child benefit, water and homes may cost €3,000

FAMILIES could be hit with extra levies of up to €3,000 a year under recommendations for a tax on the children’s allowance, water charges and property tax to be presented to the Government next week.

They are among 250 proposals in a report by the Commission on Taxation which will be presented to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in the coming days and discussed by the cabinet in early September.

The 700-page document, which will feed into the Government’s deliberations on December’s budget, is expected to recommend: