Crowe Welcomes Family Tax Repeal Bill
Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe TD welcomed the launch a of bill to repeal the Family Home Tax and committed his party to repeal the tax if in government after the next general election.
Speaking after the launch of the Financial Local Property Tax Repeal Bill Deputy Seán Crowe said:
“This bill is a key part of Sinn Fein’s alternative to end the policies of austerity that are crippling low and middle income families. These families have unfairly borne the brunt of austerity budget after austerity budget under Fianna Fáil and now enthusiastically adopted by this Fine Gael/Labour Government.
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“This legislation is in addition to our revenue generating alternatives such as a wealth tax and tax increases for high earners in the private and public sector.
“Hard pressed workers and their families need a break and the unfair burden on their collective shoulders needs to be lifted.
“This home tax was signed off on by Fianna Fáil and has been taken up by the Fine Gael and Labour. There are a wide range of alternatives as Sinn Féin has consistantly pointed out.
“The method of collection of this new tax is brutal. Those who are accepted as being unable to pay face a 4% penalty next year while those who can’t pay but are not recognised as being unable to pay face a 8% penalty. The government will raid salaries, social welfare payments and pensions to extract this tax on the family home.
“We know the reality that one in four mortgages are in distress yet these same households who may be in negative equity and have paid stamp duty now face this extra tax. That is blatantly unfair and needs to be reversed.
“Thousands of families up and down the country will be pushed over the edge by this tax. It’s the difference between having enough to make ends meet, to put food on the table, to pay the electricity or gas bill, to be able to fill the tank with heating oil and not doing so.
“We saw in last week’s list of exempted ghost estates, just how few exemptions regardess of the extent of the disrepair or hazardous conditions that families are forced to endure and pay out under this Government’s legislation.
“Sinn Féin in Government will repeal this tax. Our bill states in black and white that we would refund the tax paid by citizens for the year in which it is scrapped.
“We intend to intoroduce this new bill on the floor of the Dáil shortly and it will be debated during our Private Members’ Time at the earliest opportunity.
“In the intervening period we are collectively committed to continue our campaign across the state to win support for this particular alternative and bring about a fairer way forward to repeal this unjust tax.”
