Proposed 0.5% rate of property tax 'too much at present', says Noonan
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has today rejected a proposal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to set property tax at 0.5%.
Minister Noonan said that the suggestion in a review document would raise €1bn from 1.6 million households, meaning an average tax of more than €600.
The figure is also twice the value suggested in some quarters of Government.
Minister Noonan said that households could not afford such a level of tax.
"If you divide a billion by 1.6 million houses in the country, I think that's too much, at present, for ordinary families to bear," he said.
"The only reason I'm saying that is in case it 'gets legs' as the figure.
"It's simply advice from the IMF, and we're not taking that piece of advice."
