Thursday 20 October 2011

People living in cities should pay higher property tax

A new property tax should not be based on market value but on the size of the site and the size of the town or village in which it is situated, according to a paper presented to the economics conference in Kenmare, Co Kerry

Michael Collins of the Economic Research Unit and Adam Larragy of the University of London said this kind of site-value tax would get around the practical difficulties of introducing a property tax, as the Government is committed to doing.

Under their proposals:

Rural dwellers would pay a flat €100 per year.

Sites in towns with less than 10,000 people would be charged 55c per sqm.

Larger town sites would be charged 65c per sqm.

?And city dwellers would pay 75c per sqm, but Dublin city council areas would pay 85c per sqm.

"The provision and availability of publicly funded services increases as you move from rural to urban areas," the authors said.

The new database of property will allow the government levy the tax based on local authority boundaries.

"The tax will yield at least €300m in its initial year of 2013 and would average €175 per site," the paper said.

"The intention of any site value tax is to capture the underlying value of developed land. In general, the value of a site derives from its location and access to publicly funded or subsidised services, facilities and utilities."

They recommend deferral rather than exemption for those unable to pay. The deferred tax would become payable when the house was sold or transferred.

Brendan Keenan
Irish Independent

www.bpsplanningconsultants.ie

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