Joe Higgins
Question:66. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Finance if he has conducted a poverty impact study on the effect of the property tax on homeowners dependent on payments from his Department. [4104/13]
View answerThursday, 28 February 2013
Questions (66)
Written answers
I understand the Deputy is referring to the effect of the Local Property Tax (LPT) on homeowners dependant on payments from the Department of Social Protection. A Poverty Impact Assessment is connected with the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) process. There was no requirement to carry out a RIA for the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 or the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013 as the guidelines as set out in section 3.4 of the Cabinet Handbook were followed, including a clear indication of the effect of the tax on persons experiencing or at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The Memorandum for Government on the Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012 (as it was at the time) indicated that these issues were taken account of as part of the deliberative process, including the considerations of the expert group chaired by Dr Don Thornhill which considered the design of a property tax (the “Thornhill Group”). That group commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to conduct an analysis of the effect of a property tax, and the group had regard to the ESRI’s analysis in recommending the income limits for deferrals of the tax. The report of the Thornhill Group recommended deferral measures for groups at risk of poverty, and these recommendations were accepted by the Government.
The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013 contains other measures to assist those who have a real and material inability to pay the LPT, including deferral measures for liable persons in a personal insolvency arrangement and a provision to allow Revenue to grant a full or partial deferral in circumstances where a person suffers both an unexpected and unavoidable significant financial loss or expense, as a result of which he or she is unable to pay the LPT without causing excessive financial hardship.