Families in mortgage difficulty cannot afford property tax says Ó Cuív
By Kernan Andrews
It is “deeply unfair” to expect homeowners, who “cannot afford their home as it is”, and are in mortgage arrears, to have to pay “hundreds of euro in extra tax on that home”.
This is the view of Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesperson and Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív, who was speaking as the Revenue Commissioners prepare to issue letters to homeowners in Galway, and across the State, this month.
Dep Ó Cuív believes it is “wrong to tax the family home” and “completely wrong” to introduce any form of property tax at time of “unprecedented mortgage crisis and a complete failure on behalf of Government and the banks to address this crisis”.
According to Dep Ó Cuív, under the Government’s plan, a home in Galway worth €150,000 will result in approximately €315 in property taxes.
“I have spoken to so many families here who are genuinely distressed about how they will afford to pay this, at a time when they can barely pay their mortgage and other household bills,” he said.
The latest mortgage arrears figures out this week show that one in every four mortgages are in difficulty. Dep Ó Cuív said the Government, “cannot in good conscience hit these families with property taxes on top of everything else, while failing to address the ever deepening mortgage crisis”.
