Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 53, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “Report on establishment of Wealth Tax Commission

37. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the establishment of a Wealth Tax Commission to independently consider, having regard to the current taxation of wealth relative to labour, the merits, design and implementation of a net wealth tax.”.

I will be brief, as I know members want to reach section 39 before we conclude. The Minister will be familiar with this amendment, at least from his time in Opposition, and if he has followed this committee over the past number of years. It looks at a report on the establishment of a wealth tax commission to consider introduction of a net wealth tax in the State, which would apply to all forms of wealth with appropriate exemptions. I have outlined in different speeches where I think those types of exemptions should take place - agricultural land, active business assets, a portion of your home and so on. I note that the wealth tax commission in Britain was established in spring 2020 to provide in-depth analysis of proposals for a UK wealth tax working with a network of world leaders and experts including economists, lawyers and accountants to study all aspects of a wealth tax. It completed its final report in that same year and provided comprehensive insights into the establishment of a tax.

Given the question has not been studied or analysed in any great detail here in some time, and while we had the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report, it is now dated, it would be beneficial to establish such a commission, having regard to the issues raised previously.