Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 October 2015
43. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance his plans to cut and restructure the local property tax, which is such a huge burden for low income Dublin households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35234/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, it is standard practice for the Minister for Finance to review all tax charges, expenditures and reliefs in the run up to annual Budgets. It is also a longstanding practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment on any tax matters that may or may not be the subject of Budget decisions.
I initiated a review of the operation of the Local Property Tax (LPT) earlier this year. The Review was carried out by Dr Don Thornhill who chaired the Inter-Departmental Group on the Design of a local property tax in 2012. Dr Thornhill's current review focussed mainly on the issue of property price developments, and the outcome of the review has been presented to me in report form and will be published on Budget day. I will be announcing my conclusions on this important issue in this afternoon's Budget.
