In early February every home in the country is to receive a leaflet to ensure that everyone is aware of Minister Phil Hogan’s controversial €100 Household Charge, which comes into effect from next month.
It has not yet been decided if the paper work for paying the charge will be included, but leaflets must be delivered over a 10-day period and the controversial tax must be paid by March 31st.
The government can not as yet put a cost on how much the delivery of these leaflets will cost, since it had just been offered to tender, but it seems likely that here in Ireland, An Post are the only operation with the logistical capacity to deliver same, nationwide. However under EU rules all public contracts,which are above a certain pricing threshold, and which go to tender, must be open to all delivery companies operating across Europe.
Who is exempt from the €100 Household Charge?
Truth is no one really knows as yet. However it would appear that those who would be a ‘force for most resistance,‘ to this charge, have been carefully factored out. People in ghost estates and those on mortgage interest supplement will get a waiver from the tax, while those living in council estates will be exempt.
Fines for those who won’t pay can be deducted from their wages or Social Welfare payments, as well as through Revenue and Irelands newest tax collector the ESB. While the latter two are having difficulty collecting their own just payments, we are informed that refusal to pay could result in a court appearance, a fine of €2,500 and or a term in jail. However latter is highly unlikely, since prison space in Ireland is currently at a premium for even major criminals.
This controversial €100 household charge is expected to raise some €160m in the coming year and will eventually be replaced with a property tax. Regarding the latter, the Government has decided to convene an expert group in early January to consider the issue. So the wealthy will again convene to decide on taxes which will affect the wealthy. Maybe they could also discuss giving up their Children’s Allowance entitlements when they eventually meet up.
However, opponents of this ‘Household Charge,’ live under the elusion that this latter decision now demonstrates that their campaign of pressure todate, against this unjust tax, is actually working.
Landlords have said they will pass on the €100 household charge to their tenants, so expect a massive Grecian style demonstration of ‘people power,‘ in the coming months folks, when people decide they have had enough of the creeps, the snake-oil salesmen and spoofers, who caused our financial ruin and yet continue to raise unjust taxes, to subsidise their personal greed and gross negligence.
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Aren’t we all just slaves to the EU and IMF. First a Fianna Fáil led Government agreeing to securing the debts of reckless banks, then nationalizing these debt ridden banks and transferring private loans owed by the likes of Sean Fitzpatrick, Sean Quinn, David Drumm and greedy property developers etc into a state owned property management company, then hit by two really tough budgets targeting the middle class and the poor to subsidize these banks day to day running, which was to only pay debt. Then agreeing to a bailout plan that we people were never asked did we want it. Then been targeted with cuts agreed with the EU/IMF while the Fitzpatrick’s and the Quinn’s go on to live the high life and we are going to be forced to pay a household charge (property tax, coming soon) Water rates (coming soon) to pay off debt they built up while they the ones who owe billions, are free men. They convict people on social welfare for not having a TV license in this country yet can’t imprison these bankers for reckless/illegal practices. Any other country would execute these bankers and Fianna Fáilers for economic treason. All to protect the rich and more importantly to Europe the British/German/French banks which are going to end up in trouble no matter how much they try stop it while sharing a currency with them which the chances of it surviving are looking pretty small and we are set to head into a severe recession again this new year because the rest of Europe is holding us back. All this while made to feel guilty by Europe like it is our fault and that we should reduce our living standards to pay off this debt to cover the reckless lending there bankers did anyway and go on paying billions to unsecured bondholders.
I find it disgusting that refusal to pay this will result in our government using your income/welfare channels or a utility company to get you to pay this.
In a democracy (doesn’t feel like it anymore) you would be brought to court and given a fair hearing to express why you haven’t paid it and the judge would either tell you to pay it or not to in case they made a mistake and you are exempt from the charge, lets say you just lost your job but are waiting on a welfare claim etc you have no way to defend your decision not to pay it and stop it been deducted.
Rant over. But we need to separate ourselves from this euro zone. We don’t want to be seen as the generation that sold our sovereignty and put our children paying a huge debt in years to come.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has today warned that water charges will soon become a reality when meters are installed in every home in the country. Is he talking about the rainfall level that falls on my house and garden.
Chris your comment is not a rant, this piece of legislation is the most unjust law ever introduced into Ireland since the Candle Tax of 1709, the Playing Card Tax of 1588 or the Wallpaper Tax of 1712, latter added to the list of offences punishable by death.
These aforementioned ridiculous taxes, not to mention the Brick Tax of the 18th century, the Hat Tax of 1784, and the Window Tax of 1696, were a way to extract money from the rich and demonstrated some respect for one’s ability to pay.
This €160m windfall expected by Minister Phil Hogan, will be used I suspect, by County Councils to install water metering. In other words if we pay it “We cut a stick to beat ourselves.”
There is plenty of opportunity to collect taxes in other ways:-
(1)Remove Children’s Allowances from all who earned incomes of over €70,000 last year.
(2)Reduce politicians pay by 50%, by getting rid of TD’s clinics. We already pay for advice centres. (Unless of course they are used for other purposes.)
(3)Get rid of Local Urban Councillors. Regardless of their limited individual abilities, they currently haven’t even the power to organise the filling of a pot hole. (Just look at the state of Thurles, its Urban Roads, footpaths and Barry’s Bridge.)
(4) Get rid of that subsidised Pub in Dail Eireann. Both Michael Noonan and Micheál Martin have already expressed grave concerns about our health and life styles. e.g.Cigarette & Sugar Bad – Alcohol consumption OK.
These unjust taxes are destroying consumer confidence, and I now understand for the first time why absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in just three years in the 18th century. “If the people have no bread, they can eat cake.”
By the way when you get the chance, do not forget to say goodbye to the working man’s political party who continue to support and run this fair land into ruin, for personal greed.
I see someone in Europe is spreading around that the Euro “will be the worlds strongest currency in 10 years if we all take the pain now”. Is that to make us all say “It will get better soon” The ECB have lost all credibility in the markets. Enda Kenny’s recent message to the people of Ireland “This is not your fault” True but we still got to suffer and pay for it. We should be blackmailing Europe, talk of defaults in 2010 would surely have had them playing by our terms. It is a insult they loan us money and charge us a high interest rate when we are been forced to reduce are standards of living and pay off gambling bond holders with zero entitlements to any returns all to save them. If a new treaty is needed and a referendum does take place maybe we can try spook the EU and IMF into spreading out the debt over a number of years, but with all these “Kangaroo laws” we seem to bringing in we might be told there won’t be a treaty.
To address the rumours of taking from welfare/wages due to fines, at the moment its only talk, some points I’ll make on that, one under present law they can’t do it, two its doubtful they can change the law to do it both legally and constitionly, thirdly for argument’s sake lets say they could do under present law, it would still require a court order, and with signifigant amount of people refusing to pay the courts would be very clogged up, fourth they can’t pay/won’t pay campaign has a legal team ready to challenge such stuff in court and to defend all non payers.
The realisation that people were willing to go to jail in opposition to this regressive tax led the government to attempt to change tactics.
CAHWT members discussed the possibility of this strategy being used by the establishment as long as eighteen months ago and how it could be counteracted. For every tactic the government adopts, the CAHWT has a range of ways of dealing with them.
The implementation of this tactic will still lead to a major problem for the government trying to impose it through the courts and that does not take into account other measures of opposition that the CAHWT will launch.
If we do not pay the household charge, those of us who wish to sell down the line are faced with a substantial payment if or when we sell our house. This will be composed of the original amount of €100 pa along with interest and penalties. We have to pay the charge. There is no option – unless you live in a house that you are definately definately definately not going to sell – ever.
Who in the name of God is going to sell their house in this current climate. Click on Link:- http://www.independent.ie/business/businesses-owe-euro124m-to-councils-for-water-bills-2977341.html Even state-funded agencies owe more than €1.8m for water.
Well George,
I didn’t mean when one is selling a house in the immediate future. One would hope that our economy will come back again in at least 20 years time. I, for one, will be selling my house at some point, and do not want to have to pay levies, interest etc, etc which this crap government will hit us with. That is the point I was trying to make.
Kathleen