Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 March 2013
157. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Finance if any outstanding amount of local property tax in a repossession or forced sale scenario will rank higher for payment purposes than an outstanding mortgage when the realised sale price is insufficient to fully discharge a mortgage liability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12343/13]
View answerUnder the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, unpaid Local Property Tax (LPT), together with any accrued interest, will be a charge on the property to which it relates. The Act does not confer any preferential creditor status on the Revenue Commissioners, other than that which they would have in the normal course of events. The usual rule is that the priority of a Revenue charge vis-à-vis other parties who also have a charge on the property will depend on the timing of the various charges. Therefore, in the event of a repossession or forced sale of the property, the proceeds must be used to discharge charges in the order in which those charges arose. The Revenue Commissioners will only have preferential creditor status over a mortgage provider where the LPT liability was due and payable before the mortgage provider advanced a loan in respect of the property. On that basis, unpaid charges for LPT should not have an effect on currently outstanding mortgages.
