Grandad’s last stand
I have never been unemployed.
That is not a brag or a holier-than-thou statement, but I mention it for a reason.
Having never known unemployment means two things. It means that from the day I graduated to the day I retired I have had to pay tax. Every fucking year a large chunk of my salary disappeared never to be seen again. The other thing is that never having been unemployed, I have never ever claimed any kind of benefit from the system.
For nearly all of the forty or so years of employment I paid a reduced rate of Social Welfare payment. Aha, you say, so I saved there? No I didnât. Because it was reduced rate I wasnât entitled to anything. I have never received any of the benefits that a normal Social Welfare rate would have given me, such as medical or dental benefits.
The bottom line is that for forty or so years I have been paying shed loads of cash into a system and have never received anything in return.
I am retired now and I consider that I have earned a quiet peaceful retirement the hard way. I have paid for this retirement through doing work that frequently I detested and was often dangerous. I frequently had to work outdoors in all weathers. I was used and abused by my employers with rarely a word of thanks. And of course I have paid a small fortune in taxes, VAT and other duties.
I deserve to be left alone.
But now they are demanding that I pay a tax on the property that I inhabit.
This is not a tax that can in any remote way be described as payment for a service. It is a tax that is levied for the simple reason that I canât deny that I live in a house. To all intents and purposes it is a tax on the fact that I worked hard and was prudent. It is a tax on the fact that I wanted a secure home for my family.
And what is this tax going to be used for?
The money is to be used for paying debts that I never incurred.
I never benefitted from the âboom yearsâ. I drive a nine year old car. I have no foreign properties. During the entire period I never even borrowed any money. I believe in paying my way, and if I want something, I will save and pay cash. Now they are demanding that I pay for the recklessness of others simply because I was prudent.
They can go fuck themselves.
I donât give a damn if they come knocking on my door â I wonât pay.
I donât give a damn if they impose fines – I wonât pay.
If they want to incarcerate me, then so be it. I still wonât pay.
They say itâs only â¬100. A mere â¬2 a week. Less than the cost of a cup of coffee or a newspaper. Maybe so but only the terminally brain-dead will believe that next year it wonât be â¬500, or â¬1,000 or even â¬5,000.
They say that other European countries have property taxes and itâs only fair that we have the same. I donât give a flying fuck about other European countries, just as they donât give a flying fuck about me. If it is so important to be like other European countries, why am I paying twice as much for tobacco here? Why am I paying three or four times the price for simple stuff bought in a chemist? But they only compare us with other European countries when it suits them.
The time has come to make a stand.
I have had enough.
Hopefully they’ll lock you up in Loughan house – Looking forward to the  “Crazy Grandad on the Run” headlines when you do a runner
Why thank you very much, Desiegee. I’m glad my impending incarceration provides such anticipation.
Anyway the headlines are more likely to read “Grandad goes on rampage with AK47 in the Dail”.
âGrandad goes on rampage with AK47 in the Dailâ.
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Looking forward to reading that headline!!!
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I’ll hold your coat!
To add insult to injury, that wanker Varadkar said yesterday, that “Those who break the law (household charge one), cannot be expected later to also be protected by the law”. Can you imagine that. ! If you don’t pay and then a bunch of angry TD’s come around and burn your house down, you have no right to call the Gardai. You are right Grandad, they can go and fuck off.
P.S. Â A ‘wander’ is actually the fast typists word for ‘WANKER’ .
i agree with you fully and if they do incarcerate you, its a trick to say you are now reaping benefits and must pay the tax, be wary they’re tricky bastards
Mossy – I’ll lend you a spare AK47 if you like?
John – What the fuck does he mean by that? Are the Gardai to be instructed not to respond to a 999 call from a non-payer? Is there any limit to the threats these cunts dream up?
And Varadker hs been demoted to WANKER! 😉
Cat – Will someone please tell me what benefits I am reaping that I haven’t already paid for many times over?
I’ll take you up on that and then swiftly return to Tunisia!!
As another grandad, with a very similar career profile to yours (both in
the U.K. and here) i.e. worked all my life and never claimed any
welfare benefits, I concur with how you feel. I f you need any help with
your protest please count me in.
Mossy – Jayzus but you’re a pal. Fuck that. The guns stay here.
Albion – Maybe I’ll need a campaign manager once I’m holidaying in The ‘Joy?
Heh! I have just received an anonymous mail.
One line of text –
Sie müssen Steuer zahlen, um uns im Luxus zu halten
which according to Google translates [from the german] as –
You have to pay to keep us in the luxury
Thanks Angela.
Hi Grandad,
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Welcome to what we have in the shithole called the UK. You guys probably know what happened here with the poll tax and now the council tax. I can only dream of a council tax of 100 Euros, the council tax on my two bed flat is £1,300 a year! Not that I fucking pay it, they can fuck right off!
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I blooged an article over at my place yesterday regarding the household charge in Eire, it certainly makes for interesting reading when you find out who DOES NOT have to pay it.
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Just click on my name for the link to the article and prepare to get even angrier.
Over the course of my thirty eight years on this world I’ve read thousands of books and countless newspaper/web articles by many different journalists. Yet NEVER in all that time have I ever heard somebody make a point as clearly, concisely and with as much validity as yourself, GD. I have to be honest in saying that it was by accident that I discovered this site, yet I somehow feel that finding it was like turning a new page in my life.
On the subject at hand, I was listening to 4FM’s “Late Show” online last night where Niall Boylan was discussing this very matter with callers. A text poll carried out by them had a result of 96% against this charge. There were plenty of irate callers venting their anger also.
Maybe this issue could finally be the match that lights the fire under the holes of the Irish people. Although there are PLENTY of issues currently worth fighting for; as the saying goes “all it takes is one spark to light the flame”.
BTW, it was also mentioned on Niall Boylan last night that Phil Hogan “claims” that Government ministers are not exempt from Property Tax. THAT would be worth checking out 😉
Let me know if I need to stand bail for ya, son.
InisEanna – Jayzus but that’s a bit embarrassing? Thanks [says he in all humility]. My one prediction for the next ten days – we are going to get an unprecedented level of threats coming up to the deadline. I must start a collection.
Doc – I’ll take you up on that!
Embarrassing for whom? 🙂
Seriously though, I think that’s just my way of saying that I like your “no frills/as it is” attitude and that at the end of the day you prove my theory that a point can’t be made sufficiently without a sprinkling of the “cupla FUCKail”. No prisoners taken in your discussions.
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As regards Mr. Hogan’s statement, here’s another report on it:
http://www.thejournal.ie/government-ministers-homes-not-exempt-from-household-charge-389793-Mar2012/
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InisEanna – For me of course. I’m more used to bricks being thrown at me so I have to do a double take when someone says something nice. The use of the cupla fuckail is born purely of frustration. It is almost impossible to write about the modern world without losing the head a bit. Â
As for ministers not paying the tax, I have a few points…..
1) They will all try to avail of that “property owned by a Minister” shit.
2) If they fail on the first hurdle they will claim the tax back as expenses.
3) If they fail on either of the first two and end up paying in full, will they even notice on their fucking salaries?
Bastards.
For my sins I still do some work for Government Departments, mainly Education. However when it comes to getting paid I have to submit an invoice to one of the many of Hitler’s spouses that seem to ocupy the payments offices. No invoice, no money is the motto. Same applies to me, if they don’t send me an invoice for goods or services supplied then tough shit. I’m not paying a fine for a crime I did not commit.
It will end up like here in the UK where council tax has become a mortgage you can never redeem. I have never had benefits either and yet if you go through your whole life never working or paying, guess what! you don’t have to pay council tax. It really makes you wonder why you bothered.
The biggest property portfolio in the Dail is owned by the fattest prick there. Dr James Reilly is, in valuation terms, the wealthiest vulture in that nest. He gets â¬42 a day for turning up for work, and if he’s not there, he gets it anyway. So, three days of staying at home, scratching his ocean-going arse, and he’d have change after paying his property tax.Â
But, like Grandad says, he’ll probably be on TV writing his cheque for the tax, and get one of his underlings to claim twice that amount back for dry cleaning  his “dirty linen”, or something like that. Or, he could simply claim from the HSE for seeing two imaginary medical card holders in his surgery. It’s pocket money for a count like that. !
…… and apologies for using the word “count” in that last sentence. My spell cheker is American. !
Its all Bollox. Lets get back to basics. There was none of this shite in the early days of Saorstát Eireann.
The Financial Traitors would have all been shot.
Your AK47 may come in useful yet GD.
I agree 100% in what you say but the problem is they will sent a few to jail to scare the rest,they are already planing this instructing the courts like ‘dont worry about drug dealing and violence’ get these non payers in jail. This new bunch of gobshites are no better then the last lot this is part of the problem it does not matter who you vote for its slavery.           I think the point has already been made but they [TDs] wont be paying it this also happened in the UK all the council tax bills were on their expensive account. Who believes it will stay at â¬100 of course next time it will be â¬900 Iv said this before if they get a lot of non payers they will put the charge on say the electric bill I think they were trying this in Greece.
Someone needs to start a non payers campaign dont registrar things like that, maybe they have?
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I think there has been talk of deducting the tax [and penalties] at source from salaries, Social Welfare payments or pensions. I can’t see it happening though as it would be a logistical nightmare. They would have to track every single householder and then determine where that person gets their income. I could see a few court cases coming out of that one!
Quit griping and just pay your taxes y’auld miser.
There’s a two word reply to that suggestion.
Yo Grandad, Loved the post and wish you luck in not paying them! Stick it to the fuckers. They deserve what’s coming to them.
I would suggest having a browse on Getoutofdebtfree.org Its a wanderful site with A really good forum. There helpful :). They might be able to help you. I’m currently clearing a few payday loans from when I was jobless last year.Â
Strange how you suppose to have a job to be able.to.apply for these..
Ha
Keep up the good fight and peace Â
Pete – Welcome and apologies for losing you the moderation place! You talk about us only having to pay â¬100 a year?? Not true. The â¬100 is simply to get us to sign up. They have already stated that from next year it will be different and it could be anywhere in the hundreds or thousands.
Ginner – Thanks for the link but one thing I have learned over the years is to avoid debt. I ask for nothing and I owe nothing. I have no mortgage or credit card debts, and if I can’t afford something then I go without.  All I want is to be left in peace.
No worries mate, it’s your age, I bet that you are forever forgetting where you left stuff and lose it!
You will definitely be paying more next year and the year after! We have had the council tax increased at around 3% on average since the robbing fuckers brought it in over here, our started at a lot higher than 100 Euros though! I have not paid the bastard thing in six years and will never pay it, it is not that I cannot pay it, it is that my hard earned money is my fuckin money and no bastard burueacrat is going to take it from me.
Also in the UK it has been proven via FOI requests that at least 50% of council tax goes to pay the pension contributions of the civil servants. I have a blog about that too!
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http://www.newstruth.co.uk/council-tax-at-least-50-of-it-goes-on-pensions-for-the-bureaucrats/ have a butchers at that!
Another email from Angela. [I think she fancies me?]
“Sie Irischer simpleton. Sie wissen, dass Sie nicht gewinnen können.“
which apparently translates as
“You simpleton Irish. You know that you can not win.“
Heh!