We have power to stop new tax

FROM January the Fine Gael/Labour coalition will attempt to impose a new household tax on us and will begin installing water meters in homes across the state.

Rural households will face an additional septic tank tax.

While the government has said the household tax will initially start at €100 annually, it has agreed with the IMF/EU that from 2014, households will be charged for the use of water. This then is just the beginning of what will amount to a full scale property tax on the family home. According to John Fitzgerald of the Economic & Social Research Institute (the government’s semi-official economic think tank), the new taxes should be as high as €1,300 per annum on the average household.

This tax will be charged at a flat rate. So a millionaire living in a mansion will pay the same rate of household tax as a worker living in a modest house. This is deeply unjust. It will be claimed that revenue from this tax will be set aside for investment in local services, and that certain households will be offered exemptions and waivers. We have heard all this before.

Remember that bin charge waivers have all but been abolished and the waste collection service across the state has been privatised. The revenue collected will not be used to enhance local services but will go straight into paying bankers’ gambling debts.

We have the power to stop this tax, if we all refuse to register and pay they cannot impose this unjust tax on us. Across the state a campaign is being built to oppose this tax. Kerry Against the Household Charge has already begun canvassing estates in Tralee. The reaction was very favourable. Everyone we have called on took the newsletter and many agreed to display the window poster.

We will be continuing the canvass in Tralee in the New Year. We also intend to launch the campaign in other towns in Kerry. These towns will then set up their own campaign groups. The campaign is based on a refusal to pay and the defence of non-payers. By standing together we can beat this tax.

Kieran McNulty

Cahermoneen

Tralee

Co Kerry