Health Levy Doubled

3 Dollar Bill

So the Health levy has been doubled from 2% to 4%. I wonder will the extra revenue generated actually be put back into the Health service or will it be used to pay of the bankers.

ixoy

I doubt it'd be used to pay the bankers so much as shore up the banks - there's a difference there. The first gives an image of a business man with a cigar cackling over stacks of euros whereas the other is more of a financial necessity (caused largely by the aforementioned cigar-chewing banker).

Aside from that, it's a fair question as to where the funds for the levy will go - are certain increases earmarked to fund certain areas or does it all go into one big money pot and shared out according to need?

copacetic

Harney was on todayfm and admitted that the income levy and health levy were just standard taxes by another name and should be normalised asuch assuming the tax review asked for it to be done.

O'Coonassa

ixoy wrote: »

I doubt it'd be used to pay the bankers so much as shore up the banks - there's a difference there. The first gives an image of a business man with a cigar cackling over stacks of euros whereas the other is more of a financial necessity (caused largely by the aforementioned cigar-chewing banker).

I keep hearing this but I totally fail to understand why? Before the crash of 1929 there were lots of banks and after there were many less and the economy still clearly recovered. Surely when a bank or business goes bust it just means that some other bank or business provides the service. In fact I pretty much thought that's how a free market worked.

starbelgrade

Mary Harney will eat her way through the health tax levy increase by July. At least I hope so - I put €20 on it with Paddy Power at 15-1 earlier. With the increase on a packet of fags, this will nab me 33 packets if all goes to plan.

3 Dollar Bill

Does anyone know the statistics on this?

How much revenue was generated by the 2% levy in 2008?

How much was spent on improving our Health service last year?

Surely, These figures are published somewhere.

ccosgrave

People here seem a little confused by the health levy, as I am myself. What does the money actually go towards? Why would it be called a health levy if it's basically going towards whatever the government feel like doing with it? I couldn't get a straight answer out of Google, though it did link to a page saying that the levy went to VHI for health insurance for over-50's. That can't be right, can it? It seems like an absolutely absurd idea. Does anybody have any links towards what the money was used for so far?

copacetic

from the Irish Times today

Mr Lenihan said he planned to reconfigure the tax system and abolish levies. "There are too many diverse levies," he said. "They have to be brought together and rationalised."

Harney said the same thing last night.
People seem confused because the Health Levy is just a tax, it isn't assigned only for health funding.

Capt'n Midnight

copacetic wrote: »

Harney was on todayfm and admitted that the income levy and health levy were just standard taxes by another name and should be normalised asuch assuming the tax review asked for it to be done.

one excuse was to minimise the effect on payroll software
the other is that a levy is based on ALL income , so no tax free allowance

nesf

O'Coonassa wrote: »

I keep hearing this but I totally fail to understand why? Before the crash of 1929 there were lots of banks and after there were many less and the economy still clearly recovered. Surely when a bank or business goes bust it just means that some other bank or business provides the service. In fact I pretty much thought that's how a free market worked.

The view of many professional economists after the crash has been that the destruction of wealth that the failure of those banks combined with the non-existence of deposit insurance schemes both lengthened the Depression and caused untold hardship on ordinary people. Imagine waking up and your entire savings and wages from last month just being gone combined with the money the company you work for that was going to be used to pay you this month just being gone.

The problem is that as soon as you introduce deposit insurance to protect ordinary people and businesses you basically introduce a huge cost if a bank fails (and moral hazard). That's why we need to prop up the banks, the tax payer gets to pay for all the deposit accounts that lose money if the banks fail. It's generally cheaper in the long run to keep a bank solvent than to have to cover the cost of leaving it fail if it's a major clearing bank like AIB or BoI.

Jamfan

Have you ever been to see a hospital consultant? Did you notice his vacant, arrogant tone while he vaguely talked in your direction? You filthy, insufferable peasant. All this extra revenue is for his sole benefit and do not dare you question it, you loathsome, quarrelsome pauper.

It's off to Van Diemen's Land with you.

segaBOY

According to the Budget Supplement that came with the Irish Examiner it will generate €160m which will go towards filling the budget overrun of the HSE

I can't understand why more people aren't complaining about this increase

It will cost a good share of people a lot more than what the income levy raises will cost.