Letter to Phil Hogan about Property Tax

4 Sept 2012
Phil hogan,
Minister of Environment.

Dear Phil,
I am writing to you about a property tax. I am a homeowner in Dublin.
Firstly, I support the intoduction of a property tax. Without rehearsing commonplace observations -a property tax will broaden and stabilise the tax base, without milking already overburdened revenue streams such as VAT and income.
Secondly, I am in favour of the tax being levied in relation to the value of the home. It amazes me how much controversy this has caused -often from people who normally advocate a wealth tax. But to me, it is obvious, that the value of the home, rather than the size, location or whatever else, should be the key determinant of the tax rate. Taxing people with less valuable assets, simply because they occupy more space is not only silly, it is regressive to those living in poorer areas -be they rural or urban. I would particularly like you to identify the property tax as a wealth tax, as I am truly fed up of hearing people talking out of both sides of their mouth on this wealth tax issue.
Thirdly, though I believe the value should determine the rate of tax -I also firmly believe, it must be the value of the site that must be taxed -not the value of the building. If we start taxing people for the value of their buildings/homes, there is an incentive to leave empty buildings derelict. Much like the old "window tax", I feel that a tax on the value of the building will simply lead to people adapting their homes to be squalid and unattractive, delaying upgrades and redevelopment. Much better to tax the value of the site, which ultimately is the value of the locality, rather than the building. Leaving people with the full benefit of any improvements they make by spending money on construction/renovation. Also, Multi-Unit Developments will need some sort of special method of collection in a site valuation tax -possibly via the OMCs.
Fourthly, I am quite opposed to linking these rates to local authority budgets. Local authorities in ireland are extremely efficient at wasting money and should not be given an independent income stream. That's one man's opinion, but it is sincerely held.
Fifthly, I think that non-payment of the property tax (and indeed the household charge) should simply be assigned as a burden on the property with penalties accumulating each year. That sidesteps the issue of having paid revenue staff collecting the money from a hostile public -and what is more, people would hurry to pay it if they felt it was linked to their ownership of the property.
Sixthly, i don't think there should be any exceptions to the property tax. Even if the homeowner is mortgaged, or on a low income, the fact that they own a high value asset should be indication enough of their ability to pay. Income tax reliefs should be for people on low incomes, mortgage interest relief is targeted at those with mortgages -I therefore see no reason to relieve such people from a property tax which is based on the value of the assets they own, quite seperate from their income or debts (and I say this as a low income, mortgaged man). However, i do think that the lowest band of housing should be either exempt or very lightly taxed. People owning homes in low value areas, should not have to pay a substantial tax for the pleasure.
Finally, i think you should move early to announce a target rate of taxation levied from property. If we have 4 months of speculation about how much individual householders might pay, then the psycho brigade in the Sindo will work themselves and everyone else up into a tizzy. I think it would be better for you, and everyone else if you made clear now that there will be x number of tax bands, with a range of rates from Y to Z euros per 1000 euros of site value. Once people feel there is an upper limit to what they may end up paying, they won't be as animated over the whole thing.