Congress: Tax Report Could 'Place New Burdens on Working People'
7 Sep 2009
Congress today (Sept 7) expressed deep concern that the recommendations of the Commission on Taxation could result in "significant new burdens being placed on already hard-pressed working people."
Congress Economic Advisor Paul Sweeney said: "The Commission's recommendations, if implemented in full, could see working people hit with higher costs at an already difficult time, while the business sector would benefit - effectively a transfer of resources from one to the other. That is neither fair nor sustainable.
"We have always believed and supported tax reform as we believe in an equitable, fair and progressive taxation system - unfortunately we cannot see how the Commission's report will deliver on that goal," Mr Sweeney said.
"This exercise was flawed from the beginning: its terms of reference and composition virtually guaranteed this outcome. We support the decision of the trade union representative to the Commission - Brendan Hayes of SIPTU - not to sign the final report and agree fully with his reasons for so doing.
"The entire exercise was driven and dominated by an outdated ideology that has been abandoned wholesale across the globe. This misguided philosophy is what has caused the greatest financial crisis of the modern era. Remarkably some still believe it to be a suitable reference point and basis for an examination of our tax system.
"Our fear is that the tax base had not been widened but that the burden imposed on working people, as opposed to business, has been increased," Mr Sweeney concluded.
Congress will be considering the Commission's report in greater detail at the next Executive Council meeting, on September 16.
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