Yesterday morning I received my Property Tax documents from the Revenue Commissioners. There were very comprehensive details included about how I could pay and what I needed to do to avoid paying. A vital piece of information was omitted. The missing nugget: why are we paying this tax? What is it for?
Of course it must be obvious - if it's called a Property Tax then it must be a tax on my property, right? But wait a minute, if I bought my property then didn't I already pay a tax on it and, wait another minute if I sell my property won't I also pay tax on the sale?
So lads, this isn't a Property Tax. It's going to your local authority to provide local services to your area and so therefore let's call it what it is - it's a Local Authority Services Tax, payable to the local authority that is supposed to provide services to the area around your home.
All we need to do therefore is change the name and then people will be happier to pay it. Why? Because if you are now paying a body directly to provide a service and you're not getting it then you can request the service, complain when you don't get it and expect action when it is not provided or indeed progress to sue if it is not?
As someone who is surrounded by unauthorised developments, lives in a laneway that is unlit, unsurfaced, strewn with litter and waste of all varieties and is but 2 minutes walk from the centre of a town of c.20,000 in North Kildare I look forward to paying my tax, The amount yielded for my area will now be documented in Kildare County Council's accounts. The amount of tax I have paid as part of that total will be documented in my receipt from Revenue.
So thank you Phil - we will now have a full audit trail of payment from us to our local authority and as such can expect the services you say we are getting. I for one have not been - since er, 1985.
