Sir, – Am I missing something here or is there a large population of home owners who want to pay their property tax early?
Surely, in this day and age, the vast majority have bank accounts. Therefore, the only sensible option is to pay by direct debit on a monthly basis or have the payments deducted from salary on a monthly basis. Why would anyone choose to pay by debit or credit card? – Yours, etc,
LIAM FOLEY,
Duncannon,
New Ross,
Co Wexford.
A chara, – You report (Home News, November 5th) that "Revenue has said it must take payment immediately because it cannot retain card details on account of data protection laws". This is untrue. My business is Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant and registered. We store details of hundreds of cards, but safely and digitally encrypted for future membership transactions online. No problem in the smart economy? – Is mise,
COLM WALSH,
Yoga Dublin Studios,
Rockfield Central,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Further to Peter McNamara's letter (October 26th): why can't the Revenue accept post-dated cheques? If it insists on payment by credit/debit card four months, ie a third of the year, in advance, surely it is not unreasonable for taxpayers to expect a hefty discount for the financial hardship caused by such a demand?
In addition, as a taxpayer, I would like the Revenue to procure from the relevant local authority a detailed breakdown of how my LPT was dispersed and to in turn furnish me with same when presenting me with an invoice for next year’s LPT – as is normal practice in England. – Yours, etc,
MARY ALLEN,
Canal Walk,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Page seven of The Irish Times (November 5th) displays an advertisement from Revenue.
The ad is misleading, to say the least. It reads, “Credit/debit card will be debited when the transaction is made online – this is how credit cards work”.
Perhaps Revenue has not heard of the book club, to which I belong, which allows me to spread a payment to it by debiting my credit card with nine or 10 equal monthly instalments. It works like a direct debit – except to the credit card, not the bank account. What works for nine or 10 months could surely work for 12.
As to security implications, Revenue already allows monthly debits to a bank account, which is, in essence, a series of numbers. A credit card account is also a series of numbers. Spot the difference. – Yours, etc,
DICK REEVES,
Wingfield,
Kilcroney,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.