Householders will begin to receive property tax assessments next week and those who don’t respond by the end of June will face stiff penalties, the Cabinet has been told.

The chairwoman of the Revenue Commissioners, Josephine Feehily (above), briefed Ministers yesterday about the operation of the new tax which has caused anxiety among Government backbenchers about the likely public reaction.

Letters will be sent to the country’s 1.6 million householders in the coming weeks giving them six options for paying the local property tax.

She expressed confidence that the Revenue would be able to get a compliance rate of 97 per cent when the system was up and running.

Well that’s just great.