Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Peter Bacon recommends that we do it through income tax. Imposing a tax rate of 50% on earned moneys above €100,000 would bring in €490 million annually,almost equal to what is expected to be raised by the property tax. Such a tax would be based on ability to pay, making it a fairer tax. I remind the Minister that in January 2011 Fine Gael stated it would raise revenue from property, but not by way of a household tax as proposed by Fianna Fáil, on the grounds that such a tax would be difficult to collect from asset rich but income poor households, particularly the elderly and the unemployed, and also that it would be deeply unfair for a young generation who had paid exorbitant amounts in stamp duty and VAT on the purchase of overvalued houses, many of whom now find themselves in negative equity. This is what the Minister's party stated one month before the general election. I am sure he would agree that we should be pursuing a form of taxation based on ability to pay.

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