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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 5 Jun 1996

Vol. 466 No. 4

Written Answers. - Residential Property Tax.

Máirín Quill

Ceist:

32 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons liable to pay residential property tax by reference to the incomes of other persons in their household have no right of contribution; the proposals, if any, the Government has to counter this injustice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11605/96]

Michael McDowell

Ceist:

36 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Finance whether more than 50 per cent of residential property taxpayers live in three Dáil Éireann constituencies; the plans, if any, the Government has to deal with the inequities of the residential property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11602/96]

Michael McDowell

Ceist:

43 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons liable to pay residential property tax by reference to the incomes of other persons in their own household have no right of contribution; the proposals, if any, the Government has to counter this injustice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11604/96]

Peadar Clohessy

Ceist:

53 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Finance whether more than 50 per cent of residential property taxpayers live in three Dáil Éireann constituencies; the plans, if any, the Government has to deal with the inequities of the residential property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11603/96]

Charlie McCreevy

Ceist:

56 Mr. McCreevy asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has to review the residential property tax in view of the recent soaring rises in the value of properties, particularly in the Dublin area. [11585/96]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 36, 43, 53 and 56 together.

Deputies will be aware that the programme for renewal indicated that the future of RPT would be considered in the context of a professional study of local government financing which is at present being undertaken by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment. I understand that phase 1 of the review has been completed and that the report is with the Minister for the Environment at present. He has undertaken to publish this document and make it widely available in due course. As I have said on many occasions previously, I will evaluate all aspects of residential property tax in light of the findings of both phases of the study when completed.
In relation to the location of residential property taxpayers, Deputies McDowell and Clohessy asked whether more than 50 per cent live in three Dáil Éireann constituencies. Statistics are not available by reference to constituency boundaries. However, I have provided Deputies on several occasions with a table of RPT taxpayers broken down by county and Dublin postal district. I can make this available to the Deputies again, if they wish.
The aggregation of household income to determine exemption on income grounds has always been a feature of residential property tax since its introduction in 1983. Although the tax is levied on the owner(s) of the property, it is essentially a tax on the enjoyment and use of that property. It is appropriate, therefore, that the total income of all persons normally resident in the house should be taken into account for this purpose. Any other approach would be inequitable.
Finally, in relation to Deputies McDowell and Quill's question regarding no right of contribution, the Supreme Court found in the Gallagher Constitutional case in 1984 that the aggregation of household income for the income exemption test was neither unreasonable nor unjust, regardless of the right of the owner(s) to recover a contribution.
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