Property tax relief must be enacted

The Minister for Finance announced in the 2012 Budget that for individuals who purchased their first principal private residence on or after Jan 1, 2004, and on or before Dec 31, 2008, the rate of tax relief on the interest paid on the loan to purchase that property will, for the tax years 2012 to 2017, be 30%.

This is regulated by the Finance Act 2010 and is a legal requirement for the Government and its agencies, the Revenue Commissioners.

As an individual who qualifies for this particular tax relief, I am still awaiting implementation of this Act some six months after it was announced. As Cuba Gooding, Jr said in his Academy Award-winning role: “Show me the money!” Perhaps, if the Government ensured that this particular law was implemented then far more people would be in a position to pay the household tax. I wonder can we not apply the same penalties for non-payment of this tax relief as for the household tax?

Can we not make ministers responsible for implementation of this Act and impose a financial penalty on their salary for every month it remains unpaid? The Government would give loan sharks a bad name in the manner they now apply pressure to struggling homeowners for payment who are still waiting on the Government to implement tax relief for their property that was promised six months ago.!

Declan Waugh

Bandon