‘Wat’er rip off! Yet another downside of market value based property tax

Not linking a property tax to the cost of running a local authority means we will have no idea of exactly what we are paying for. When it comes to how local government is funded it works (in simple terms) as follows, you have their costs, from that you take away ‘goods & services’ – this is income the local authority generates. Then you reduce it by the pension levy (local government workers fund this), and after that you traditionally had the local government fund and grants.

The local government fund is made up of car tax for the most part, and until recently it was a key component of funding, it was partially replaced by the household charge and the last portion of funding is made up of commercial rates.

The Dublin City expenditure position is below, note that a sizeable portion of it is spent on water, almost 16% – which is a significant cost.

An issue with a national market value oriented …

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TV3 Viewers: The good things about a Site Value tax

We are posting this for viewers of TV3’s ‘The Morning Show’ with Sybil & Martin, it covers some of the main advantages about Site Value Tax.

1. It is widely agreed that we need to spread the tax base to reduce taxes on employment to be replaced by taxes on assets, and to create a less volatile tax base. This can be achieved with Site Value Tax. In terms of ‘fairness’, it is important to remember that only 50% of properties in the country have a mortgage on them, and for that reason there is also taxable capacity in the market for this, in conjunction with a reduction in income taxes.

2. The Site Value Tax currently included in the Four Year Financial Recovery Programme, is such a tax. It applies only to land zoned for development, or already developed.

3. Land is a fixed asset. A high proportion of its value is dependent on its area, its location and its proximity to related infrastructure. Infrastructure which is created via public expenditure but rarely ever re-captured for the value it …

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10 points in favour of Site Value Tax or Land Value Tax

Of the main changes we could consider in the near future from a national taxation perspective, none holds the potential for positive outcomes to the same extent as Land Value Tax (LVT) or Site Value Tax (SVT). Below are several points looking at why this is the case:

1. It is widely agreed that we need to spread the tax base to reduce taxes on employment to be replaced by taxes on assets, and to create a less volatile tax base. This can be achieved with Site Value Tax. In terms of ‘fairness’, it is important to remember that only 50% of properties in the country have a mortgage on them, and for that reason there is also taxable capacity in the market for this, in conjunction with a reduction in income taxes.

2. The Site Value Tax currently included in the Four Year Financial Recovery Programme, is such a tax. It applies only to land zoned for development, or already developed.

3. Land is a fixed asset. A high proportion of its value is dependent on its area, its …

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Site Value Tax: What is it? How does it work?

I volunteer with a group called Smart Taxes who are a sustainable taxation think tank. This has post is taken from their site (original in link above), and it is well worth reading if you want to hear about the reasoning behind using site value or land value taxation as opposed to ‘property taxation’.

Site Value Tax is a taxation reform included in the Irish government’s current Program for Government. It levies an annual charge on the value of all developed and undeveloped zoned land including the site under every building in residential use.  It does not include un-zoned land i.e. agricultural land, forestry and peat-lands.  It does not include developed commercial property currently subject to local rates but it is expected that SVT will replace commercial rates in due course.  It does however, include land zoned for commercial uses not currently subject to rates.  Research by Smart Taxes and other groups has shown that SVT has clear benefits over other kinds of property taxes from a number of perspectives; macro and micro-economic, environmental and social. …

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Postcodes: a prelude to property tax

I think that the introduction of postcodes will usher in the foundation for property tax, and that the gains to be had from postal efficiency are not at the heart of the move toward a comprehensive postcode system.

Just to give the background to this post, the Sunday Tribune reported:

Residents in Dublin’s coveted D4 addresses have only two years left until their exclusive postcode is renamed by the Department of Communications, as plans for the new postcode system are finalised by Minister Eamon Ryan. The department plans to issue tenders for the system by Easter, but a delay has meant the code will not be in place until the end of 2011, and not early next year as planned.

Under the new coding system, areas such as Dublin 4 and Dublin 6 will be renamed under a new six-digit system, such as D04123 and D06123. However Labour’s spokeswoman for Communications, Energy and Natural Re­sources, Liz McManus, said the latest estimates for the new system …

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