Unions call for non-payment of tax

The flat rate household charge is one of the most “reactionary and regressive” forms of taxation because it treats “millionaires and pensioners” the same, trade union activists in Dublin said today.

The activists, who belong to the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, said they fully support the campaign of non-payment and non-registration for the household charges.

“These charges give us an opportunity to show our disgust at the way this government has been slavishly following the policies of the last discredited Fianna Fáil / Green Party coalition government,” a spokesman for the group said.

Approximately 3,000 protestors took part in a demonstration in the National Stadium in Dublin yesterday against the €100 charge, which is due to be paid by homeowners by the end of this month.

The event was addressed by TDS including Joe Higgins and Clare Daly of the Socialist Party and People Before Profit TDs Richard Boyd Barrett and Joan collins were among those present.

A spokesman for the Dublin Council of Trade Unions said today it would support the campaign in every possible way and it welcomed the calls from individual trade unions to scrap this tax.

“However this does not go far enough, we believe they should actively participate in the campaign of civil disobedience,” he said.

“This charge is one of the most reactionary and regressive forms of taxation because it is a flat rate payment designed to treat millionaires and pensioners in exactly the same way.”

The spokesman also said the trade union movement should examine with their members “the possibility of refusing to operate administrative arrangements designed to take the charges from social welfare recipients, pensioners and others”.

More than 328,000 properties had been registered for the Government’s €100 household charge by yesterday evening.

The Department of the Environment said 328,201 households had paid, or registered to pay, the charge by 4pm – an increase of 14,860 properties in 24 hours.

Some €32.8 million has been collected from the charge but the Government anticipates total revenue from it this year to be €160 million.

Fewer than 20 per cent of households have so far registered. The deadline for registration is March 31st, after which date a sliding scale of late-payment fees and interest will apply.

The Government so far has ruled out any extension of the time to register.