Pearse Doherty TD has come out against Leo Varadkar’s proposed changes to the Local Property Tax (LPT) which he believes will not solve tax increases after 2019.
Doherty said that Varadkar was: “motivated by a fear of an inevitable big jump for families especially in Dublin when the valuation freeze melts in 2019. The cynical move by Minister Michael Noonan to kick this into touch until after the last election has now caught up with Fine Gael and they are frantically throwing out ideas to prevent people in Dublin in particular feeling the effect.”
Doherty said that the freezing of the LPT will lead to a sharper increase in 2019, unless there was another property crash.
“Families are struggling to pay mortgages on houses they have bought with all their savings. The property tax increase will be another kick for those trying to deal with high standard variable rates and increasing insurance prices on their homes.”
“The LPT should be abolished and a fairer system put in place that funds local government based on need, not internal Fine Gael election campaigns,” concluded Doherty.
