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Property Tax Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 February 2014

Thursday, 20 February 2014

Questions (87)

Michael McGrath

Question:

87. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will ensure that those who have received notification of a liability for local property tax in 2014 and have chosen to pay by single debit authority but who are in fact entitled to a three year exemption, will not have the LPT deducted from their accounts on 21 March; the number of persons he estimates will fall in to this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8841/14]

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Written answers

Any property owner, who has claimed an exemption from Local Property Tax (LPT) in filing their 2013 LPT1 Return, provided they continue to satisfy the conditions, will be exempt until the end of 2016.

However, if the Deputy is referring to property owners who may now qualify for an exemption under section 8 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended), in my reply to Question 166 on 4 February I informed the House how Revenue would deal with these cases. The Revenue Commissioners have advised me that the section 8 exemption applies to a clearly defined group of property owners, who are being identified using Stamp Duty records. There is a significant amount of work involved in identifying individuals who bought in 2013 and who may be entitled to claim the exemption. The Deputy will be aware that the section 8 exemption only applies to properties that are used as the person's sole or main residence.

The Commissioners further advise that they have prioritised the work involved in identifying the potential property owners affected and they confirm that further progress has been made. When this work is completed Revenue will write to these individuals and will provide advice on what action should be taken where the individual confirms that she or he qualifies for the exemption and how they should go about claiming it.

I am further informed that any property owner who falls into this category can now claim the exemption under section 8 by accessing their LPT record using their Property ID, PIN and PPSN without waiting for the letter from Revenue. Step-by-step instructions on how to claim the exemption online are available on the Commissioner's website at the following link http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/lpt/section8-exemption.html. Where a claim for exemption under Section 8 has been received by Revenue and found to be in order, Revenue has confirmed that if the property owner had completed a Single Debit Authority (SDA) dated 21 March 2014 that the SDA will not be activated by Revenue where Revenue is notified no later than 10 March.

For those property owners who do not manage to claim the exemption before 10 March and had completed the SDA, when they subsequently claim the exemption the overpaid LPT will be refunded.Revenue has advised that the number of property owners who qualify for the exemption under section 8 and who also completed the SDA will not be available until the claims for exemption are finalised.

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