Sir, - The decision of the Minister for Finance to proceed with his controversial proposal to bring in tax individualisation is to be condemned.
The introduction in the Finance Bill of a £3,000 allowance for single-income families, where a spouse cares for children or a dependent relative, fails to restore tax equality between one and two income families. This taxation gap between single- and double-income families will widen drastically over the years after tax individualisation is introduced.
If Mr McCreevy proceeds with this measure as proposed in the Budget, in three years' time a couple with both spouses working will be able to earn £56,000 at the standard rate, whether or not they have children. Single-income couples without children or dependent relatives will be able to earn only £28,000 at the standard rate. The only concession Mr McCreevy has granted to single-income families with children is the new standard-rated tax allowance of £3,000. In the 2000/2001 tax year this means a tax saving for affected taxpayers of only £660 in the year.
I believe that the individualisation of tax bands is anti-family, anti-woman, anti-child and unconstitutional. It is a crude attempt at social engineering by the Government, designed to force women into the workplace against their will.
The system we had up to now, where all married couples got twice the single person's tax band, regardless of whether one or both of them worked, must be restored. This is an issue of principle - the principle that all married couples have the right to transfer their personal tax allowances and tax bands between each other, if they so wish. - Yours, etc.,
Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP, Eglinton Street, Galway.