23% VAT, why, oh why?

[natural20]

As the VAT increase lumbers closer I still can't wrap my head around why the government are doing it, or perhaps why the Troika are forcing the government to do it. I find myself presuming that it's just because they are very blinkered (yes, I'm being nice here) and choosing to forget there's a land border an hour up the road from Dublin, over

Comments

[ulaire_daidoji]

I think a good option as an alternative would be a more granular taxation system. I think everyone should pay some tax even those on minimum wage even if it's only 3%.

I don't see a problem with introducing 2-5 extra tax-bands including a punitive one for the super-wealthy on earnings over N millions.

Ultimately though, all of the measures seem to be short term. The govt is failing to do anything for growth which is the real key to long-term solutions. Stuff like Jobsbridge is just being abused by too many employers.

[yea_mon]

The problem with the low earners paying more tax is that they have no more left to give already - there's minimums you have to pay for food, utilities, transport - and on minimum wage that leaves nothing for anything else.

[sares2000]

How do you feel about property taxes?*
Or indeed, site value / land taxes?

*I'm aware the Government are shooting down their own policy with the way they're planning to start the property tax at a flat €100. For the sake of this post, please disregard such self-defeating stupidity and consider property taxes in a more general non-stupid sense.

[natural20]

I think that, properly calculated and rated, they're something I could actually probably accept, the trick is how to work 'em out properly.