Irish Drivers Association – Giving Irish Drivers A Voice        Irish Drivers Association – Giving Irish Drivers A Voice

A Legal Road Around the Property Tax?

Just think of how much poorer we are now, since the financial meltdown of 2008.  Think of all the cuts in services, the taxes, the levies, the Universal Social Charge and the rest.

How on earth have we allowed this to happen?  Why is there so much deference in this country; so much obedience.  Only the pensioners, rebelling against the threat to remove their medical cards, have shown any real moral fibre.  And it worked.  They kept their medical cards.

But, what has happened to the rest of us, meekly accepting our impoverishment?  It’s as if our elected representatives want us to go back to the years of living in hovels, scratching a living, and keeping a pig in the kitchen.

The austerity measures imposed on the people of Ireland all breach the foundation of our Constitution, which definitively states that Ireland shall be governed with ‘justice and charity’.  But both of those principles have been, of late, in very short supply.

Except, to be fair, for the recently publicised views of our President, Michael D. Higgins, who has, to his credit, spoken out about the dire consequences of austerity.

So, let’s think about, say, the Property Tax, the most recent of these assaults on our natural right to live normal, 21st century lives.  It really is a step too far.  There is, however, a legal way of not paying it.  Thousands of people have already chosen this route, although you won’t have seen anything about it yet, either in the press, or on television, for understandable – although not justifiable – reasons.

Yes, thousands of people have joined an increasingly popular campaign, called, Attack the Tax, which has taken a case in the High Court, challenging the legal status of the property tax.

This case is still on-going, and, will, most likely, end up in Europe in a few years’ time.  – The importance of this is that while this judicial question remains unresolved – and, as long as you are a shareholder with Attack the Tax – the Government, and in particular, the Revenue, cannot take any money off you, in any way.

The campaign’s strategy has been to create a Special Purpose Vehicle, a legal entity in which you can become a shareholder, for the sum of €2.  You are then completely legally protected from paying the Property Tax, and also from any subsequent penalties – because you will have become party to the legal process  If you’ve already paid the tax, you can still join, and not pay the Property Tax again.

We didn’t all party.  The Celtic Tiger passed by on the other side for most of us, so there’s no reason at all why we should pay for its downfall.

It took us eight hundred years to win our independence.  What was it all for?   Haven’t we had enough?

You can see more about the campaign on their website www.attackthetax.com  – And if you choose to, also become a shareholder.

Author: Jackie Dale – and published in the The Clare Champion