Why can’t the rich pay their fair share in tax?

Not too long ago a Sunday newspaper claimed that the 300 richest people in Ireland had increased their wealth by €6bn, and this as austerity had begun to hit ordinary working people, including the poorest.

It has also been revealed that the poorer section of the population experienced an 18% reduction in its disposable income, whereas the richer section saw their disposable income rise 4%.

What this suggests is that the ordinary working people are experiencing the pain of the recession and the richer section is not. Indeed they continue to lead the ‘high life’ and never have to worry about paying a bill.

It is no surprise, then, that the gap between the richest and the poorer has significantly increased over the past few years.

Despite this gap growing neither the previous government nor the present one has done anything to narrow it. Indeed, the Government refuses to increase income tax even for those receiving salaries of €100,000 a year, and a great deal more in some cases. In fact Government policy protects the highly paid section of the population by refusing to increase progressive income tax, whilst hitting the lower paid section of the population with the kind of tax like VAT that helps the wealth gap to increase. Surely one of the purposes of progressive income tax is to spread a country’s wealth more fairly? This requires income tax to be increased, at least for the wealthy, if the wealth gap in a country is to be narrowed.

Recently, the Government claimed that it no longer had sufficient funds to pay for local essential services. It could have increased income tax at least for very highly paid people. It could also have put a small levy on the wealth of millionaires and especially billionaires. Instead they opted for the household charge, a tax that only required the billionaire to pay the same as the elderly person who only had a State pension, or a worker with a family who could hardly afford to put food on the table. This was a grossly unfair tax, which is one of the reasons why thousands of people have refused to pay it.

The Could choosing to impose a household charge-type tax rather than increasing progressive income tax, have the potential to create a conflict of interest? I don’t know if it could, or if it did.

However, I am convinced that it is a very unfair tax that punishes the poor and not the rich, which is why it should be abolished and fairer means used to pay for local services.

Brian Abbott

Bishopstown Road

Cork