Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 October 2014
45. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an assessment of the property tax system to date; the amount of tax that has been raised in each county; a breakdown of property tax revenue by postcode in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38865/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that compliance data in relation to the Local Property Tax (LPT) is available broken down by city and county councils nationally and the most up to date figures for LPT collected in 2013 and 2014 were published on 10 October 2014 on the Commissioners' website at: Local Property Tax Statistics October 2014. I am also advised that the Commissioners do not break the LPT statistics down to post code level.
The Commissioners have confirmed that by the end of December 2013, €318m had been transferred by Revenue to the Exchequer in respect of LPT and the 2014 LPT Exchequer receipts to 30 September 2014 are €385m. Exchequer receipts for LPT also include payments of Household Charge.
The introduction of Local Property Tax, amounting, as it did, to the largest extension of the self-assessment system in the history of the State, represented a very significant administrative challenge for Revenue and it has handled this challenge extremely well. LPT has now achieved a compliance rate of 95% in respect of 2013 and 94% in respect of 2014. The Commissioners have also successfully implemented the collection of Household Charge arrears which, to date, has yielded about €33m in respect of 181,000 properties. I am also advised that Revenue's work on ensuring that the highest possible levels of LPT compliance for 2013 and 2014 and for the Household Charge is ongoing.
I want to again commend Revenue for the excellent work it has done in taking LPT from concept to a fully functioning tax in such a short period of time. The work involved included the enacting of legislation, the building of a completely new residential property Register, the development of a secure online system for filing and paying LPT via the Revenue website, the provision of customer service to such a large volume of taxpayers and critically the lodgement of in excess of €700m to date to the Exchequer.
The Deputy may also be aware that the Commissioners launched their pay and file campaign for 2015 last Friday 10 October, which will be supported by a public communications campaign. Letters will issue between 20 October and 31 October to around 1 million property owners who paid their 2014 LPT charge in full, in a single payment or who made regular cash payments, requesting them to make arrangements for paying their 2015 LPT charge. As with 2014, no letters will issue to property owners who paid their 2014 LPT charge by direct debit or by deduction at source from their salary, occupational pension or from payments received from certain Government Departments, as these payment methods will automatically carry over into 2015.
The Commissioners will also be implementing a range of reductions in the rate of LPT (known as the local adjustment factor) that were agreed by fourteen different local authorities during September. This work will ensure that property owners pay the correct amount of LPT for 2015.
Further details about LPT liabilities, payment options and dates for 2015 are available on the Revenue website at: What do I need to do for 2015? and I am advised that briefing material was provided by Revenue directly to all members of the Oireachtas.
