Fear of getting it wrong seems to be paralysing the Government

There has, undoubtedly, been economic recovery. But, equally there is a sense it has not been evenly spread across every region, orbenefited every family, in the country. There is more to recovery than just balancing the books.

As a nation, we remain very resistant to the introduction of any new forms of tax or levy. There is compelling evidence that we have an ongoing problem with our water supply system, yet we rejected the introduction of water charges.

The funding problems for our national broadcaster are acute, yet we resist anynotion of a media levy toreplace the increasinglyinappropriate TV licence.

Despite the introduction of local property tax (LPT) in 2013, the tax remains small in comparison with most other taxes. Only 10% of local government funding is provided directly by this tax, which belies the “local” part of the LPT moniker.

Nor will that change anytime soon, it seems. Earlier this year, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe announced that he would postpone arevaluation of houses for LPT purposes. That revaluation was due this year.

A revaluation would, undoubtedly, have prompted most people’s LPT bills to go up, because property valuations have gone up.

The current local property tax bills are based onvaluations which were made during the absolute property value nadir in 2013.

A 2019 revaluation would have resulted in LPT billsincreasing by 50% or even more depending on the area in which you live.

A common theme for 2019 might be that it was the year when, like the LPT revaluation, things didn’t happen. Fear of getting it wrong seems to be paralysing the Government while at the same time creating avacuum for differentpressure groups, quangos and activists to fill.

Last year saw a remarkable proliferation of the unelected telling us what to do.

People will remember that, back in March, Brexit was supposed to take place. We now know it will finally happen on January 31.

One of the many consequences of the lack ofpreparedness and political indecision on the part of the British was that Irish taxpayers got very little by way of tax relief in the budget in October. The Government’s line was that it needed to be ultra-cautious in the face of Brexit chaos if the UK left without some form of deal with the EU. As it has transpired, that chaos did not materialise at the end ofOctober, as was then feared, and is now unlikely to transpire during 2020.

That doesn’t mean we can be complacent. Brexit is not just for 2020; it’s for keeps. What lies beyond December 2020 is down to whatever can be agreed between the EU and the UK on the future relationship beyond December 2020.

Another change that didn’t take place this year was an exercise by the Revenue to remove flat rate expense deductions from many categories of employee. This would have resulted in tax increases for hundreds of thousands of workers but the review was postponed.

Corporation tax was also a cause of some disquiet during 2019, at least among some commentators and politicians, but for a very different reason. It’s unusual to hear complaints about companies paying too much tax.

After all, isn’t Irelandsupposed to be a tax haven for multinationals?

Nevertheless, payments by a relatively small number of multinational companies make up the greater portion of the yield and that makes exchequer receipts lookvulnerable. Of course, the tax paid is important, butarguably more important to the Irish economy are the jobs and investment a thriving corporate sector brings.

This year will see a new government with a new manifesto and a new mandate, no matter which political hue it takes. There are few decisions any government can make which affect the lives of so many citizens as tax decisions.

Brian Keegan is director of public policy with Chartered Accountants Ireland