Wednesday, May 25, 2005
'What If'? Wednesday - Different Tax Rates
I read this post on The N.Irish Magyar in which Paul wondered if nationalists refused to carry a UK ID card, could they claim UK Social Security Benefits, if unemployed, a pensioner or on sick-leave. Paul pointed out that the unemployed in the Republic get 148.80 euros (101.44 GBP) per week, compared to only 56.20 GBP in NI.
I found this very interesting. Let's be honest and acknowledge that a key aspect of the Irish Unity question relates to financial factors. I wonder though - What if we could achieve a situation in which northern nationalists would pay less taxes than unionists?
Could such a situation be brought about? Perhaps if the Irish government begins to plough money into Ireland's north and in return, northern nationalists pay taxes to the Dublin government instead of the UK's government? Obviously such a situation would require consultation with the British government but I'm sure they would appreciate assistance from their partner in the peace process. Such a system could potentially pave the way for a situation involving Joint Authoirty down the line.
What I'm getting at is, could there be a way found to enable nationalists to pay less taxes than unionists? I'm sure there is someone out there with a good knowledge of economics to set me straight and to outline why this is workable or unworkable!
I found this very interesting. Let's be honest and acknowledge that a key aspect of the Irish Unity question relates to financial factors. I wonder though - What if we could achieve a situation in which northern nationalists would pay less taxes than unionists?
Could such a situation be brought about? Perhaps if the Irish government begins to plough money into Ireland's north and in return, northern nationalists pay taxes to the Dublin government instead of the UK's government? Obviously such a situation would require consultation with the British government but I'm sure they would appreciate assistance from their partner in the peace process. Such a system could potentially pave the way for a situation involving Joint Authoirty down the line.
What I'm getting at is, could there be a way found to enable nationalists to pay less taxes than unionists? I'm sure there is someone out there with a good knowledge of economics to set me straight and to outline why this is workable or unworkable!
# posted by United Irelander @ 1:16 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
