Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 January 2014
504. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm the collection rate achieved by local authorities for the non-principal private residence charge. [3656/14]
View answerThe Local Government (Charges) Act 2009 broadened the revenue base of local authorities by introducing a charge on non-principal private residences. The self-assessed charge is set at €200 per annum and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant properties.
Under the Act, it is a function of a local authority to collect Non-Principal Private Residence Charges, and late payment fees due to it and all Charges and late payment fees imposed and payable to a local authority are under the care and management of the local authority concerned. Approximately 360,000 properties have been registered for the Non-Principal Private Residence Charge, which has raised in excess of €398m to date over its five years of operation. It is not possible to state with any certainty the level of non-compliance with the Charge, and therefore an estimate of the overall collection rate would not be sound. However, I am confident that compliance levels are high as a result of data matching undertaken with other public bodies, such as the Private Residential Tenancies Board, as provided for under the Act. The amount raised by the Charge to date also indicates a high compliance rate.
2013 was the final year of the operation of the Non-Principal Private Residence Charge although local authorities will continue to pursue arrears outstanding in the period from 2009 to 2013. Since its introduction in 2009, the Charge has been an important source of revenue for local authorities and has funded the provision of vital local services.
