A leading tax expert has warned that the forthcoming property tax could end up being higher than it needs to be because of the large numbers who have refused to pay the household charge.
Christine Keily of taxback.com made the warning following Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan’s decision to withhold funding to local authorities due to the high number of those who have yet to pay the €100 household charge, which was due on March 31st.
Half of householders have not registered or paid the household charges and similar levels of evasion are likely with the new property tax, she told The Irish Independent.
Registering for the household charge is needed by the Government to work out how many houses will be liable for the property tax.
Unless there is a major change by the end of the year, the country is faced with a situation where the compliant half of households will end up stumping up for the other half who are evading the household or property tax.
Ms Keily predicted that if all 1.7 million households liable for the charge paid then the new tax would be set at €300. However, because of the need for the government to hit a €500 million revenue target she feels they could end up charging householders €500 instead.
