Tag Archives: Property Tax

fehily

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.

Estimates for property tax to be issued from next week (Stephen Collins, Irish Times)

(Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA)

Fine Gael’s deputy spokesperson on Enterprise and Trade, Kieran O’Donnell and Fianna Fáil’s Senator Thomas Byrne (above) spoke to Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio One this morning about the property tax.

They debated whether the property tax should be based on market value or square footage. Mr O’Donnell defended it, saying the Coalition were bringing in the new tax in the fairest way possible. Mr Byrne disagreed.

And then there was this:

Pat Kenny: “This is a new tax for a generation. It’s something that (the Government) they’re designing now. They will have to tweak it. They know that.”

Thomas Byrne: “Here are those anomalies, Pat. I mean the average property say in Dunboyne (Co. Meath) last year, according to the property price register, was in that band between €250,000 and €300,000. They’re going to be paying €495 a year. In Longford, a similar house, maybe a three-bed semi, or a good four-bed semi, might be only in the €90 property tax band. I mean that’s over five times’ that, Pat. That’s wrong and it’s unfair. Another anomaly in the council houses. There are TDs in Dáil Éireann on the record as living in council houses.”

Kenny: “Who?”

Byrne: “I’m not going to name them Pat. But you can check the record yourself. The fact that they’re on a very high salary is not taken into account. It’s simply the fact that they live in a council house. And this, relatively small amount, compared to other people, compared to their constituents…”

Kenny: “Hang on a second. No, no, no, this is important. If they’re on high incomes and they’re occupying local authority housing that should be there for people who are less privileged.

Byrne: “Yes.”

Kenny: “That’s not acceptable.”

Listen here

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

 

The Government has resolved to change elements of the incoming property tax but it has refused to yield to the clamour for a fundamental review of the charge.

The move, to be made public today by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, will increase the number of exemptions to the tax.

But Government sources indicated last night that there would be no reprieve for homeowners who made big stamp-duty payments at the height of the property boom.

Measures to ease the disproportionate burden on property owners in Dublin, a source of contention for some Government TDs, have also been ruled out.

Under one new exemption, however, all local authority and voluntary housing association homes will be put into the valuation band for properties worth up to €100,000, the lowest of the bands.

Under a further measure, previously signalled by Mr Noonan, the tax will not be levied on houses that require remedial work due to damage caused by pyrite.

The rest of you – pay up.

Changes to property tax but no widespread review (Arthur Beesley, Irish Times)

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)