Barry Cowen
Question:50. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a county breakdown of the 2014 property tax charges falling due on local authority housing. [48489/13]
View answerWednesday, 13 November 2013
Questions (50)
Written answers
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that, in accordance with section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, all taxpayer information held by the Commissioners is confidential and they are therefore precluded from providing a detailed breakdown of the amount of Local Property Tax (LPT) due on residential properties owned by individual local authorities for 2014. However, the following may be helpful to the Deputy.
I am informed that local authorities are liable to pay LPT on their properties in the same way as any other residential property owner, unless the properties are used to accommodate people with special housing needs – the legislation provides for a specific exemption in these cases. I am further informed that, based on estimates provided by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, the Revenue Commissioners expect that residential properties owned by local authorities and other social housing providers will amount to approximately 160,000 properties. They will, however, be unable to confirm final figures until details of all the properties are provided by local authorities and social housing bodies and the data are fully analysed.
I am further advised that, for local authority owned properties that are not exempt from LPT, the market value of each of these properties will be deemed to fall into the first valuation band, that is €100,000 or less, which represents an LPT charge of €45 per property for 2013 and €90 per property for 2014.
In accordance with the legislative amendment which I introduced to the House earlier this year, LPT due from local authorities and other social housing providers in respect of 2013 is payable on or before 1 January 2014, as is the LPT due for 2014, and they can avail of the full range of payment options provided by the Revenue Commissioners. Resulting from these arrangements, local authorities may decide to pay 2013 and 2014 LPT liabilities together in 2014.