Lenihan considering tax on chocolate

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan today promised to consider taxing chocolate, crisps and chewing gum to help raise cash in his forthcoming emergency Budget.

The proposals are included in a pre-Budget submission compiled by thousands of listeners to Dublin’s Q102 radio station.

Other suggestions include putting a levy on take away coffees and taking one euro from each soccer, rugby and GAA match ticket sold in the country.

Mr Lenihan, who faces a busy fortnight devising a package of spending cuts and tax increases for his April 7 Budget, said: “I would like to thank the listeners for bringing so many good ideas to my attention.

“This is a worthwhile initiative because it concentrates everybody’s minds on positive things we can do to help the country at present.”

One suggestion calls on the Taoiseach to encourage tourists to come to the country by buying them a one-way air ticket – but they must pay their own return fare home.

“If we could bring 825,000 US visitors, and each spends 1,500 euro, it would raise 1.2 billion euro,” said a listener to Q102.

Q102 CEO Scott Williams said: “This list of suggestions includes some original Dublin thinking and we hope that Mr Lenihan finds some inspiration for April 7.”

Other ideas submitted to the 'On the QT' daily current affairs programme include:

Pay 3% of salary into a Government bond which can be cashed in after five years

Drop unwanted small coins into Department of Finance donation boxes in public places

Put a one cent levy on all text messages

Ask people on the dole to clean hospitals, streets and airports

Force TDs and Senators to pay for their free Oireachtas postage – which could save €400,000 a year

Put one cent on the estimated 100,000 cups of take away coffee sold in Ireland each day

Put a five cent levy on chocolate, crisps and chewing gum

Take one euro from every match ticket sold by the GAA, IRFU and the FAI

Replace motor tax and insurance with a new levy on petrol and diesel which will save on Garda enforcement

Reduce social welfare payments

Give tax breaks for taxi drivers who use hybrid cars, and

Charge motorists €1,000 for personalised car registration plates.

Q102 station, which is based in Glenageary, previously ran listener-backed campaigns to help unemployed people and to enlarge small print on public documents.