Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2013
74. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Finance the number of letters returned by An Post to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the local property tax and the follow up mechanism by the Revenue in respect of these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21728/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs I stated in reply to question number 21572/13 yesterday (7 May 2013) I am advised by Revenue that approximately 26,000 Local Property Tax (LPT) forms had been returned ‘undelivered’ by An Post, as at 2 May 2013. This represents about 1.6% of the total issue, and is lower than Revenue would have expected at the outset. A sizeable proportion of these seem to have occurred because the persons in question did not notify Revenue of a change of address, which resulted in an incorrect match between the person and his/her previous property. To date about 9,000 of the returned forms have been reissued to the relevant customers at alternative addresses, and the process of reissue is ongoing. While it is regretted that any correspondence was issued to incorrect addresses or returned ‘undelivered’ by An Post, it was inevitable that there would be some given the scale of the operation involved. I am very satisfied that as part of Revenue’s communications on the general issue of LPT Returns, the Commissioners sought to forewarn taxpayers and they have provided clear guidance on the steps that should be taken in these cases.
The LPT is a self-assessed tax and individuals who are not in receipt of a return are still obliged to file returns and make payments using the on-line option. The online service is such that a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) can be used to file and pay and therefore it is not actually necessary to receive a paper return in order to adhere to LPT obligations.
