Property Tax progress pushed in Troika review

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Property Tax will net an annual charge of between €250 and €400 per household from next year.

In a quarterly report on Ireland due out today, the IMF will caution the Government about potential delays rolling out the tax.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told his Cabinet of the amounts and that he wants details of the tax announced soon, The Sunday Times said. The tax will replace the €100 household charge and is likely to be pitched at between 0.2% and 0.25% of the value of a house, it added.

The Examiner reported that A spokesman for Mr Kenny said the only decision taken on the tax so far was that Revenue would collect it.
The Socialist Party said that a tax of €400 was just a starting point and it would “rise relentlessly each year, like refuse and other charges”.

Sinn Féin said Mr Kenny’s assurance gave little comfort to families already struggling with cuts and charges.

The Irish Examiner has also learned that over €7m in household charges paid by property owners is being used to finance the agency collecting the levy, despite communities facing cuts to services and facilities.

The millions of euro — equating to charges paid on about 72,000 properties — are being deducted from charges collected in order to pay for staff, the household charge database, and other administration costs mounting up for the Local Government Management Agency.

The IMF report today is expected to call for an early deal on restructuring part of the €64bn in debt related to the bank bailout.

Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan yesterday said that the Government’s talks with the EU to secure funding to support the bailout of Anglo Irish Bank were not difficult and the country should get a lot.

Mr Honohan said that time was on Ireland’s side and the final outcome would come after the European Commission dealt with the problems of Spain.

However, Leo Varadkar, the transport minister, said that it may be “difficult” to achieve any deal before an October deadline, originally set by the ECB.

Michael Noonan, the finance minister, will hold talks with his counterparts in Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Nicosia this week on the debt.

His spokesman last night said there was no “anticipation of a significant announcement this week”.

He added: “A timeline is set out and we’re working towards it.”

The spokesman also stressed that today’s IMF report was entirely separate to Ireland’s bailout and was a “strategic review” of Ireland, as well as other programme countries.