No exclusions for proposed property tax

If the rumours are true, the property tax will be assessed on both the house and the site.

Some argue that taxing houses is unfair because it punishes those who improve their house, whereas taxing the site incentivises property owners to maximise the utilisation of the land.

This argument completely ignores the fact that most taxes punish people who try to improve their lot in life.

Consider that income tax punishes those who work, when those on welfare are exempt. Vat punishes those who simulate the economy and create jobs by buying consumer goods. Until recently stamp duty punished those who bought larger and more expensive homes. VRT punished those who bought more powerful cars. And savers and investors are punished by Dirt and CGT, when gambling winnings are tax-free.

The purpose of a tax is to collect revenue. The fairest way of doing that is to tax everyone and everything. Once you exempt anyone or anything from a tax it is politically very hard to reverse it (eg Vat on children’s shoes). So, do not to exempt anyone or anything in the first place.

The Government is going to be hammered no matter what type of property tax it introduces. There is no electoral gain by only taxing sites and not houses. So it may as well be hung for a sheep and introduce the one which taxes both and get it over with.

Jason Fitzharris

Swords

Co Dublin