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Property Taxation Collection

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 January 2013

Thursday, 17 January 2013

Questions (24, 64)

Martin Ferris

Question:

24. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Finance if additional staff are being allocated to the Revenue Commissioners to implement the proposed local property tax; and if not, his views on whether Revenue Commissionsers have sufficient personnel to deal with the new tax or if current staff are being redirected from other activities, such as auditing, to the property tax section. [1795/13]

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Gerry Adams

Question:

64. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Finance the number of whole time equivalents currently employed at the Revenue Commissioners; and the number of whole time equivalents that will be working exclusively on the valuation, collection and enforcement of the property tax. [1775/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 64 together.

I previously advised the House in my reply to Question no. 57388/12 that the Revenue Commissioners would be resourced to ensure the successful implementation of the tax. The additional resources required for 2013 are noted in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Expenditure Report 2013. The Estimate cost for implementation of Property Tax in 2013 is €25.9 million. In line with standard costs associated with administering and collecting taxes, it is expected that Administrative Budget provisions equivalent to 2% of the annual property tax yield will be required in 2014 and 2015, decreasing to 1% after 2015.

I am advised that the Revenue Commissioners have a total of 5734 full time equivalent staff serving out of a new Employment Control Framework number of 5874 FTEs. I am advised that the Commissioners are actively seeking to fill the vacant posts mainly by way of redeployment, but it is proving to be a slow process.

The ECF includes 100 additional posts approved by my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in the context of the introduction of Local Property Tax. The deployment of resources to administer the new tax is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners who advise me that many aspects of the tax will be embedded into their existing divisions, such as legislation, IT, the Collector General, the Accountant General etc. At this stage, it is not possible to be precise about the number of FTEs which will be exclusively involved in the administration of the tax on an ongoing basis, however the Commissioners estimate that across all functions, it will range from 200 up to 400 at peak times. This may include up to 50 Temporary Clerical Officers. In addition, the Commissioners will contract for external service delivery of some data capture and call centre services.

The Commissioners further advise me that they have established the nucleus of the Local Property Tax Branch in Ennis, where staff are likely to become available for redeployment in the context of the Government's policy on shared services, specifically in the areas of payroll, banking and financial management. The Commissioners are deploying additional staff to this Branch by reconfiguring their district structure in the South West and relocating functions from Clare to Limerick. I am satisfied that if Revenue receives the additional 100 staff which were sanctioned in 2013, they will be in a position to prioritise their resources to ensure the successful implementation of Local Property Tax.

Finally, I would like to clarify that the Revenue Commissioners will not be involved as a matter of routine in valuing properties for LPT purposes. LPT is a self-assessment tax so in the first instance it is a matter for the property owner to calculate the tax due based on his or her assessment of the chargeable value of the property. Revenue is preparing valuation guidance and developing tools to assist liable persons in assessing the value of their property.

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