Daft Property - Irish Property News

Next big hot potato is property tax of up to €1,000... There's little hope of a property tax being fair and equitable on the already squeezed middle classes, says Daniel McConnell. Can you afford to pay €1,000 a year in a property tax? Well, according to the man charged with designing such a tax, that is what we will, on average, all pay once it is introduced. Don Thornhill, a career civil servant who describes himself now as a consultant "who advises on strategy and policy to a number of leading Irish organisations" has recently presented his report to Minister Phil Hogan recommending how such a property tax should work. Politically toxic and highly unpopular, the lack of enthusiasm of either Fine Gael or Labour to discuss the matter is a clear sign of the trepidation that surrounds the idea of lumping the extra burden on the shoulders of the Irish taxpayer, but in particular the "squeezed middle classes". Phil Hogan's department is saying nothing othe...

Ireland is now more than 10 billion euro in the red after the latest banking bailouts, latest Exchequer figures reveal. The Department of Finance said the debt crisis would have improved significantly - by almost 700 million euro - if it had not been for massive payments pumped into Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide in March. More than three billion euro injected into the doomed lenders from the public purse is largely to blame for a deficit jump from just under eight billion euro this time last year to 10.2 billion euro. While income tax has increased - mainly because of the universal social charge - overall taxes were lower than predicted by department officials, the latest figures show. This was mainly down to a shortfall on corporation taxes, which came in 140 million euro less than calculated. There were also lower than expected capital taxes, including stamp duty. The Department of Finance said the shock corporation tax figures could be partly blamed on "timi...

Fears raised over stamp duty issue... REACTION: ESTATE AGENTS fear the struggling second-hand housing market may well grind to a halt after the disclosure that stamp duty may be abolished and replaced with an annual property tax. The Government will be under pressure to clarify whether it plans to implement proposals by the Commission on Taxation in the December budget, having already signalled that it it may not proceed with the property tax. Buyers who may be tempted by heavily discounted prices in second-hand houses will be reluctant to make commitments until the stamp duty issue is clarified. The report comes at a time when house sales were beginning to pick up at the opening of the autumn selling season. However, agents last night warned that activity could cease until the Government indicated whether it would proceed with the taxation changes. The Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI), which represents about 1,700 estate agents, last night urged Minister for Finance Brian Le...