Increased Taxes are the Easy Option

The talks between the Government and the social partners began as discussions on expenditure cuts and pay.  Issues of taxation were left to the Commission on Taxation, which would report later in the year.  The Minister for Finance had indicated there was no scope for further increases in taxation in 2009. 

However, in a concession in those talks, the emphasis has shifted and the Government has conceded that taxation issues will be part of whatever agreement is arrived at and intimated increases in the different levels of taxation. 

Increased taxes are the easy option, which avoids the real decisions that need to be made on the curtailment of public expenditure.  There is a serious risk that under this Government we will return to a high taxation economy, when we know a low taxation regime contributed to the growth we have enjoyed over the past ten years.

Continue reading Increased Taxes are the Easy Option…