Self-employed will be liable for Sinn Féin’s ‘solidarity tax’
SINN Féin Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty has conceded to the Irish Mail on Sunday that the party’s proposed 3% ‘solidarity tax’ will be imposed on sole traders and the selfemployed.
He did seek to reassure high earners – some of whom will be vital for securing his party a successful general election result – that they will not be unduly taxed by proposals in the party’s pre-Budget submission.
Sinn Féin’s pre-Budget proposals were subjected to more scrutiny this year than ever, since it is widely accepted that the party will receive enough votes in the next election to be able to form a government.
There were eye-catching proposals, such as the plan to give each tenant back a month’s rent and to increase by up to €4bn the contribution to a ‘cost of living emergency fund’.
Yet it is the party’s tax proposals that were targeted by the Government, particularly its neglect of the manipulation of tax bands and abolition of tax credits.
Sinn Féin has also been accused of being anti-business and antientrepreneur with a proposed 3% ‘solidarity tax’ on those earning over €140,000.
Mr Doherty was asked by the MoS whether it would apply to sole traders and the self-employed.
‘It’s all income, yes,’ said Mr Doherty, ‘but sole traders will be able to offset their expenses before they pay any tax and therefore, if they’ve got a tax liability of €40,000 or €50,000 or €100,000, they don’t pay any more tax under our proposal.
‘It’s if they have taxable income above €140,000, then it would apply to them only at that point.’
Mr Doherty wouldn’t be drawn on whether Sinn Féin could secure an overall majority.
‘First of all, we hear the public very, very loud and clear, because we can’t do a meeting or walk down a street without them telling us we need to run more candidates,’ he said. ‘The desire for change is huge. It has grown since the last general election.’
Sinn Féin did not have nearly enough candidates in 2020, and failed to capitalise on its huge vote.
‘We will ensure that we put forward the maximum amount of candidates [in the next election],’ Mr Doherty insisted. ‘Donegal will definitely have an extra candidate running. But we’ve already started this process to make sure that we put forward the maximum amount of seats to make it possible for us to deliver completely on the programme that we put before the people. But look, we’re taking nothing for granted here.’
Mr Doherty was asked whether the party’s most recent budget proposals which, though controversial, are not as penal on the middle classes as some characterise them, was an effort to move Sinn Féin away from its image as a ‘hard left’ party.
‘You know, I’ve never called ourselves a hard left party,’ said Mr Doherty. ‘We’re a party of the left and we make no bones about it. It means that we prioritise those on middle and low incomes. We’re not going to do what the Government does, which is provide tax breaks for institutional landlords. We’re not going to allow bankers and financial institutions that are making billions of euro profit pay no tax for the next couple of decades.
‘But what we are going to do is make sure renters are protected. We’re going to make sure that those on fixed income and social welfare payments see €15 increases this year. We’re going to make sure that childcare costs that are among the highest in Europe, the developed world, are legally slashed.’
‘I’ve never called us a hard left party’