Eoghan Murphy
Question:339. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Finance the way student residences are to be valued for the local property tax. [17391/13]
View answerTuesday, 16 April 2013
Questions (339)
Written answers
The Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) defines the chargeable value of a residential property as “the price that the unencumbered fee simple of the property might be expected to fetch on a sale on the open market were the property to be sold on the valuation date in a particular year in a manner that would secure the best possible price for the property and with the benefit of any access to the property that would have existed prior to the sale.” The open market valuation applies to all types of residential property and student residences are no different. As Local Property Tax (LPT) is a self-assessed tax, the liable person for a particular property is obliged to determine the market value of the property on 1 May 2013. If there are particular characteristics of the property relating to it being a student residence that would be expected to positively or negatively affect its market value, these should be taken into account in establishing the market value of the property.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, because of the particular ownership arrangements that were put in place to facilitate investment in some of the properties that were constructed under the student accommodation tax incentive scheme, a person may not own an individual residential unit but may instead own a share in all of the residential units in a particular development. This type of ‘co-ownership’ arrangement does not have any effect on valuation for LPT purposes and each residential unit should be valued separately. However, only one person will be designated by the Revenue Commissioners to submit the LPT Return form and to pay the tax.
In cases where the student residences are owned by a college or other educational institution, it is the college that is responsible for valuing the residences and paying the LPT. Again, this has no effect on valuation.