2014-04-22 - Socio Economic Review 2014 - Full text and cover - FINAL

S O C I O - E C O N O M I C R E V I E W 2 0 1 4
4.
TA X AT I O N
CORE POLICY OBJECTIVE: TAXATION
To collect sufficient taxes to ensure full participation in society for all, through a fair
tax system in which those who have more, pay more, while those who have less, pay
less.
The fiscal adjustments of recent years highlight the centrality of taxation in budget
deliberations and to policy development at both macro and micro level. Taxation
plays a key role in shaping Irish society through funding public services, supporting
economic activity and redistributing resources to enhance the fairness of society.
Consequently, it is crucial that clarity exist with regard to both the objectives and
instruments aimed at achieving these goals. To ensure the creation of a fairer and
more equitable tax system, policy development in this area should adhere to our
core policy objective outlined above. In that regard, Social Justice Ireland is committed
to increasing the level of detailed analysis and debate addressing this area. 30
This chapter first considers Ireland’s present taxation position and outlines the
anticipated future taxation needs of the country. Given this, we outline approaches
to reforming and broadening the tax base and proposals for building a fairer tax
system. The issues addressed in this chapter include a number of the elements of
Social Justice Ireland’s Core Policy Framework (see Chapter 2) including: ‘Ensure
Macroeconomic Stability’, ‘Move Towards Just Taxation’ and ‘Enhance Social
Protection’.
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We present our analysis in this chapter and in the accompanying annex 4.
4. Taxation 81