Household Tax: Hogan and Agency furiously spinning figures

The Local Government Agency which is collecting the Household Tax and Minister for the Environment Hogan are tonight furiously spinning the registration figures to try and put a positive spin on what is a disaster for the government in terms of the huge opposition that exists in society to their new tax.

The Local Government Agency which is collecting the Household Tax and Minister for the Environment Hogan are tonight furiously spinning the registration figures to try and put a positive spin on what is a disaster for the government in terms of the huge opposition that exists in society to their new tax.

The honest facts are as follows: The 2011 Census reported just under 2 million houses in the State. 129,000 are Local Aurhority dwellings so they do not have to be registered. That leaves 1.86 million houses that must register according to Minister Hogan’s law.

On the figures reported at 6.00pm this evening (617,000), ONE THIRD have registered and TWO THIRDS have not. This is the only honest way to report the current situation.

A baseline figure of 1.6 million households is attempted to be used as the government estimate of the number who are expected to pay after waivers are excluded. Everything received by the Agency is then put against this baseline. This is dishonest. it is an attempt to make the current disastrous figures look somewhat better.

The Agency claims it has tens of thousands of forms in post bags. These have not been processed so there is no way to say whether those sending them in are registering and claiming a waiver or registering and paying.

The only baseline that can honestly be used is the 1.86 million houses which are supposed to be registered.

The fact is that there is a massive Boycott of the Household Tax because ordinary people see it correctly as the introduction of a new tier of parallel taxation that can quickly go to €1,000 per year and beyond – an intolerable burden. They are also protesting against the disastrous effects of the bailout of the financial markets system that has wrecked their living standards, hugely damaged public services and deeply depressed the domestic economy with horrific unemployment and forced emigration. The huge opposition amounts to a powerful demand for a new policy to replace discredited austerity.

 

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

The euro patient: ‘Stabilised’ but still critical

Next Article

World warming even faster than thought

Related Posts
Read More

Why I joined the Socialist Party

Joining the Socialist Party was an easy decision for me to make. Faced with the same bleak reality as countless others around me - mass unemployment, cuts to education, graduates unable to find employment, and imprisoned in the precarious position of surviving off of one hundred euro a week - I decided to draw a line in the sand.

Read More

Review: Elysium

Elysium is a dystopian sci-fi action film released in August 2013, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. Set in the year 2154, it follows the story of Max da Costa, a factory worker living in the ruins of a future Los Angeles. In this future, the rich and powerful have fled the poverty, disease, and environmental destruction they’ve wrought on the world, and moved to a space station called Elysium. There they live in an idyllic society, far removed from the struggle of ordinary people on earth.