Mass Non-Registration Achieved

AXE THE HOUSEHOLD TAXYou did it! As the 31st March deadline forregistration of the Household Tax passed,over one million of you refused to registerand pay this unjust tax.

Despite the government’s threats, lies and in-timidation the majority stood firm and re-fused to pay. It represents the greatest act ofmass civil disobedience in the history of theState.

This represents a greater percentage of thepopulation than was the case for non-payersin Britain at the start of the anti-poll tax cam-paign. Well done to you all!

VibrancyThe vibrancy of this campaign was witnessedon two memorable occasions.

On Saturday 24th March the National Sta-dium was packed to overflow, when over3,000 people attended from all parts of Ire-land, an electrifying rally against the house-hold and septic tank taxes.

The following week over 10,000 assembled

for a lively and colourful marchthrough Dublin city centre to theFine Gael Ard Fheis.

OrganisationThe success of these major cam-paign events came from havingwell organised, local communitycampaigns of ordinary people inevery county. Thousands haveturned out for public meetings, campaignershave distributed hundreds of thousands ofleaflets door-to-door, and thousands havesigned up as members of the campaign.

The people of Ireland found their voice, gotorganised and are now in open revolt againstgovernment policy. While government min-isters attempted to bully people into payingthe tax, the strength of the campaign ensuredthat the majority felt confident enough towithstand the intimidation.

However, thousands were bullied into pay-ing, and resented doing so. They may havefelt isolated and fearful of the possible con-sequences of not registering. The Campaignmust reach into those areas, not organised inthe run up to the registration deadline.Those who may have registered, but who stilloppose the tax, are welcome to join the cam-paign.

ExperienceThe experience of the anti-poll tax campaignin Britain showed that even more house-holds refused to pay in the second and sub-sequent years following its introduction.

We have laid solid roots in many communi-ties across the state. But in order to force thegovernment to axe the tax we need evenmore people to become actively involved.

Join the campaign to Axe the Household Tax! Contact your local campaign through thecampaign website at:

www.nohouseholdtax.org or phone:

1890 98 98 00

CAMPAIGN AGAINST HOUSEHOLD &WATER TAXESwww.nohouseholdtax.org / 1890 98 98 00

Based on figures from the 2011census and verified by Prof. Rob

Kitchin at the Department of Geogra-phy, NUI Maynooth, just over 1.8 mil-

lion households were due to register. On3rd April official figures showed that an es-timated 876,000 households had regis-tered * . So approx 51% have notregistered. Even if this figure slips a little,it’s clear that mass non-registration is afact. * Department of Environment figures quoted in‘Irish Times’ 4th April

What percentage ofthose due to registeractually did so?

There is a 10% late charge for thefirst 6 months, a 20% late charge for

the second 6 months and a 30% latecharge after that. There is also 1% inter-

est per month. This means a penalty of€42 in a year.

Yes. This could come into play ifyou want to sell your house. But re-

member, if they manage to imposethis tax and the property and water taxes

due to follow, you could be paying morethan €1000 annually by 2014.

The household tax legislationgives them the legal right to consult

databases held by utility companiessuch as the ESB. But the fact that some-one is the bill payer doesn’t prove thats/he is the owner.

Can they find the in-formation to registerme from ESB bills etc?

Can the charge belevied on my property?

What are the fees andinterest for late payment?

There is a potnetial fine of up to€2,500 for non-registration. But this is

not automatic - you would have to betaken to court, and the court would have tofind against you. Because there are so manynot registered, they can only take a fractionto court.

Can I be taken to courtand/or fined?

No, not unless the governmentchanges the law. And even then only

if you are taken to court and the courtfinds against you.

Can the tax or a fine bededucted from my wagesor social welfare?

No one will go to court alone.

We are not going to defeat this taxthrough the courts, but we will use court

cases to challenge any aspect of the legisla-tion that we can, with the objective of clog-ging up the court system. So when the firstcases are taken they will be vigorously de-fended and accompanied by mass protests.

A number of solicitors have already volun-teered to help the Campaign, and we willwelcome any others that wish to do so.

Any successful legal challenges will makethe government re-think their strategy. Butthey can change the law so we know that anylegal victory will only be temporary and it isthe power of protest that will force abolitionof the tax.

As things develop, if we find that we aremaking the same legal case in all courts, itmay not be necessary to have solicitors atevery case. Campaign volunteers will bebriefed on the legal points and accompanythose summonsed to court.

Every court case will be accompanied bylarge protests.

What support willthere be for me if I amtaken to court?

If services are cut, it will be a direct re-sult of government cuts to local author-

ities. Attempts to cut local services willhave to be resisted through local campaigns.

What if local servicesare cut?

Longer FAQ onlinenohouseholdtax.org

Or call our hotline1890 98 98 00

Post the deadline:Your Household Tax Questions Answered