The tax regime in Ireland, Colm McCarthy points out in his Preface, has been very favourable to property owners, but especially to developers who, together with their banks, took maximum advantage. It fuelled the disastrous property boom with the huge development-site debts racked up by a handful of avaricious developers, and led directly to the Irish state having to shore up the collapsing banks. Under pressure from the Troika rather than from a conviction of its merits, the Irish government is belatedly introducing a property tax. Instead, however, of targeting irresponsible developers, speculators and banks, the government is planning to bail them out again by excluding their land hoards and undeveloped sites from the new property tax. So that they can continue to pay nothing, ordinary home owners will have to pay at least 20% extra tax every year. The argument put forward in this book is that how property is taxed is can make a big difference both to government and the taxpayer. Most commonly property taxes are based on the full improved value of the property, but this means penalising those who improve their property. Basing property taxes on site value alone avoids this and encourages economic activity. It is an efficient tax both in terms of the low cost to the government in collecting it and to the taxpayer in paying it. It is fair and naturally progressive because the more valuable sites, paying higher taxes, will be occupied by the wealthier who will not be able to avoid it through tax havens etc.