Widen property tax net in budget, says European Commission

Property tax should be extended to cover more assets such as farmland, development land, and derelict sites, the European Commission has suggested to the Government in its recommendations for the budget.

It questions some income tax reliefs and says that reduced Vat rates, including the recently extended rate on tourism-related services, are not effective.

The Government, the EC advises, also needs to make more changes to the corporate tax system to prevent multinationals unfairly reducing their tax contribution or avoiding it altogether.