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[Oval 5]

Wieder mal ein zufällig zugeflogenes Fundstück zu Irland.
Der Ursprünglich im August 2014 von Paddy Healy auf seinem Blog verfaßte
Artikel hat im Original im Lauf der Jahre diverse updates erfahren.
Das derzeit letzte update, einen Artikel aus der Irish Times über obdachlose
Kinder, habe ich hier mit rein gesetzt.
Erschreckend, speziell wenn man diese Wirklichkeit deutschen Forderungen
nach x oder y oder z in diversen anderen, weniger reichen Europäischen
Ländern gegenüberstellt.
(.. auch bei uns gibt es zunehmend mehr Menschen, die aus ähnlichen Gründen
"unseren" Lebensstandard nicht halten können und in die Armut abrutschen.)

Poorest People Most Highly Taxed!


Paddy Healy

Poor People Pay most Tax—-NERI   Aug  28, 2014

NEW research from the Nevin Institute (funded by Trade
Unions claims poorer people are forking out more in tax
because of indirect taxes like VAT. It says that because of
indirect taxes and/or excise, the poorest 10pc pay a
larger share of their income than the richest 10pc.
However, Ireland's income tax system works on a more
you earn, the more you pay basis -the rate is 23pc for
the top 10pc and 0.3pc for the bottom, according to
Nevin. The figures also show that, on average, 24pc of
gross income is taken up by tax. But when you combine
direct and indirect taxes a different result is produced,
Nevin's Dr Micheal Collins found.According to his
research, the bottom 10pc of the population paid just
over 30.5pc of their income in direct, indirect and total
household taxation (as a percentage of gross income).In
the top decile, the figure was 29.6pc

THE RESEARCH MEANS THAT THE POOREST PEOPLE
PAY MOST TAX!

Read also Super-Rich Irish AWASH WITH MONEY on this
Blog http://wp.me/pKzXa-n4

Nevertheless, Government spokespeople including Labour
Ministers are flagging tax changes in the forthcoming
budget which confine changes to increasing the threshold
at which income recipients come into the higher tax
bracket.

Those crossing the threshold of 32,500 Euro are indeed
entitled to some tax relief as are all low and middle
income earners. But the Government proposal is grossly
unfair and regressive and reliefs should be provided in
other ways and confined to those on low and middle
incomes.

Let us take a concrete proposal to increase the income
tax threshold  by 5,000 Euro

This is grossly unfair on a number of grounds:

1. The poorest 10% who pay the highest proportion of
their income in  tax would receive no benefit as their
income is approximately 10,000 Euro per year

2. THe  proposal would have no effect on indirect taxes
which impact most heavily on those on low and middle
incomes

3 Economist Michael Taft in his blog UNITE NOTES ON
THE FRONT  has shown that 70% of citizens would
receive no benefit.

4 Very high income earners, such as the top 10,000
earning units who have average annual incomes of
595,000 Euro(Reply to PQ) would get the full benefit
(21% of 5000=1050Euro)

5. A person  exceeding the threshold by less than 5000
Euro would get less benefit than those on 595,000. For
example a person on 595,000 per year would receive
1050 euro whereas a person on 35,000 would get haf
that figure or  525 Euro

6. The proposal gives the biggest benefit to the very rich
and no benefit to the very poor and is therefore grossly
unfair

There are many ways to provide tax relief in a way that
would only benefit those on low and middle incomes as is
weel understood by government advisers.  But does the
Government want to know?

Despite recovery, Ireland remains a
hugely unequal society

Economic inequality is worsening despite the recovery and, for
those experiencing inequality, particularly children, Ireland is a
very harsh place.


Dr Rory Hearne,Tasc,
Irish Times Wednesday, August 24, 2016,


The fact that the number of homeless children in the
capital exceeds 2,000 for the first time since current
records began is further evidence Ireland is a deeply
unequal country. Economic inequality is worsening
despite the recovery and, for those experiencing
inequality, particularly children, Ireland is a very harsh
place.

Economic inequality has become a defining global issue
since the 2008 crash. The rise in wealth of the super-rich
while the majority suffer austerity, debt and stagnant
wages has led to intense political and economic attention.
Here in Ireland we have experienced similar trends.

The share of gross income going to the top 1 per cent of
earners increased from 34 per cent in 2011 to 39 per
cent this year. And over half of the increase in total
income (€21 billion) over the last five years has gone to
the top 10 per cent of earners. The bottom 50 per cent of
earners received just 6 per cent of that increased income.
This highlights an inequality in employment and wage
growth in the recovery, with a more polarised work force,
an rise in low-paid jobs, low-hours employment and
precarious work.

The minimum wage, for example, remains 20 per cent
lower than the living wage of €11.50 per hour. Ireland's
progressive income tax and social protection spending
does reduce this "gross" income inequality (the highest in
the EU) and results in a net income inequality at the EU
average. However, Ireland's net income inequality has
also risen in recent years, and an accurate assessment of
economic inequality requires inclusion of other measures
(such as wealth, poverty, public services, taxation, cost
of living) which Tasc provides in our recent report
Cherishing All Equally 2016.

In relation to the distribution of wealth, Ireland has also
become much more unequal. Over the last three decades,
the top 10 per cent have increased their proportion of net
wealth from 42 per cent to 54 per cent, while the share of
net wealth held by the bottom 50 per cent has halved
(from 12 per cent to 5 per cent).

Austerity period

The recession and austerity period resulted in a dramatic
increase in poverty and, despite the recovery, these
levels remain very high. At 36 per cent, child deprivation
is double the 2007 rate, while 58 per cent of lone parents
suffer deprivation, up from 35 per cent in 2007. This
means more than one-third of Irish children live in
households experiencing two or more types of material
deprivation such as being unable to afford to heat their
homes, buy new clothes, have sufficient food or socialise
with friends and family.

Economic inequality has a profoundly damaging impact
on children's educational development and wellbeing. At
age nine months, the level of household income a child is
born into has no correlation with their inherent cognitive
potential.

However, by just three years of age, children in higher-
income families perform better with a 1 per cent increase
in household income predicted to lead to a 5.1 per cent
increase in educational test scores. By nine, there is a
strong negative correlation between children's self-image
and their social class background, as children from more
disadvantaged backgrounds are more anxious, less happy
and report poorer behaviour.

By 13, children have internalised their inequality by
reducing their expectations. Only 36 per cent of children
aged 13 from the bottom-income decile expect to achieve
a third-level education in contrast to 65 per cent from the
top-income decile. Children growing up in disadvantaged
areas face multiple inequalities while inequalities in
relation to health and housing are also significant.

Women in Ireland are also disproportionately affected by
inequality, with a concentration of women in low-paid,
part-time work and unpaid care work. Gender inequalities
result in women being underrepresented in more senior
positions. Another important factor is the inadequate
provision of quality and affordable public services and
infrastructure in housing, childcare, transport, healthcare
and education. Ireland's government expenditure as a
percentage of gross domestic product is now the joint-
lowest (with Lithuania) in the EU.

Ireland's high level of economic inequality results from
structural issues shaped by the type of economic policies
pursued in recent decades. We have followed a variety of
capitalism that is deregulated, neoliberal and free-market
in orientation. In contrast, the Nordic countries have
pursued a more regulated social economy model resulting
in greater equality and lower poverty.

Policy shift

To reduce inequality in Ireland, particularly child poverty,
requires a significant shift in policy and political decisions
that prioritise equality. Proofing budgetary measures for
their impact on economic inequality is essential. Would
reducing inheritance tax, abolishing a progressive tax
such as the universal social charge, failing to raise the
minimum wage or the lack of a wealth tax pass such a
proofing?

Policymakers should remember the message from the
public in the general election: investment in quality public
services (health, housing) should be prioritised before tax
cuts. This centenary year should give the economic
equality dimension of the 1916 Proclamation, which
declared "equal rights and equal opportunities" to all
citizens, the required political and policy attention it
merits.

Dr Rory Hearne is a senior policy analyst with Tasc and
lead author of Cherishing All Equally 2016.
tasc.ie/publications/ cherishing-all-equally-2016/

© 2016 irishtimes.com