Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
270. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Revenue service in Ennis, County Clare, has a section set up to deal with returns from receivers for property tax for residential homes; the numbers of returns received from receivers by the Revenue Commissioners for each county; and the total value of money received to date (details supplied). [14149/14]
View answerThe logistical arrangements for the administration of Local Property Tax are a matter for the Revenue Commissioners and I would not expect to be involved in any way in deciding how and where to organise the various sections of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners.
I am advised by Revenue that all matters relating to the administration of Local Property Tax (LPT) are handled by LPT Branch, which is based in Ennis. This includes dealing with queries in respect of returns filing from across the LPT customer base, including receivers, as required.
For the Deputy's information, the owner of a residential property is the "liable person" in respect of LPT and may continue to be so depending on the circumstances under which a receiver is appointed. However in circumstances, where a financial institution enforces its security over a property by taking possession of the property, then the financial institution, as a 'mortgagee in possession', displaces the owner of the property as the liable person. Revenue has further advised me that the data requested by the Deputy are not available because receivers are not identified as a discrete category on the LPT Register.
