Smart Taxes sees a lot to like in this left wingers outline of the peculiarities of the Irish taxation system and his draft prescription for change in his ‘Recession Diaries’. We particularly note Michael Taft’s espousal of local taxes.
Does this mean the Left is finally accepting the arguments of Henry George and Green economists of the need for tax shift;- from labour to land and the use of natural resources? Still as ways to go, methinks – ‘not before we reform local government’, says he. Well, not in our lifetime then.
:Local Taxation: this would require even more radical surgery as our local government system is feeble, unaccountable and largely powerless. On every level, it is not fit for purpose. Before we could even begin contemplating higher local taxes, we would have to reconfigure a system of local governance that was devised in the 19th century.”
Still, some good stuff there; maybe we can do business.
