Tuesday is property tax deadline
Some 1.1 million completed Local Property Tax returns have been filed with five days to go until the Local Property Tax (LPT) deadline on Tuesday, 28th May, according to the Revenue Commissioners.
If you haven’t done so already, you should file your return now by logging onto LPT Online from www.revenue.ie using your property ID and PIN and follow the simple instructions, according to the Commissioners.
They continue: 'If you haven’t received a return, you are still liable for the tax and you must file your return. You can file online at revenue.ie by clicking on the 'I have not received a Property PIN' tab or over the phone by ringing 1890 200 255. You will need your property details and details of your bank account or other source from which you want the payment deducted. If you have any queries or need assistance filing your return, contact the LPT helpline on 1890 200 255.'
The extended opening hours for the LPT Helpline (1890 200 255) during the peak LPT filing period are as follows:
Leading tax company Taxback.com says there are still thousands of people who must file their LPT return online by May 28th. However, according to tax experts at Taxback.com, people are still struggling with calculating their exact liability. Taxback.com says that, although Revenue has attempted to outline the LPT situation through various informational documents and FAQs, they are taking calls daily from concerned homeowners who still have outstanding queries on how to estimate their property tax bill.
Taxback.com have released their guidance to the top five most frequently asked/ complex questions regarding the LPT to assist those who are still struggling in estimating how much they owe to the taxman.
According to Barry Flanagan of www.taxback.com: “The average house price in Meath is now about €168,100, meaning the average LPT for the county is €157 – however as everyone knows at this stage it’s not as easy to calculate each property owners LPT liability. Two people in identical houses on the same road could have very different tax bills for various reasons. We hope by answering some of the more frequent, complex queries we get asked on a daily basis that it will make the whole process easier for people”.
Question 1: Can I use Rent Return to estimate LPT?
‘I have an investment property which has decreased in value. Rent has fallen considerably and I'm getting just under €11,000 per annum. Is the amount I make in rent still a good measure of value?’
Answer: Basing your property valuation on rental income is not advised. The ideal and most accurate way to get the valuation of your property is to have it independently evaluated. Of course, this isn’t possible for everyone, so the next best way to value your property is to base your valuation on the average property price in your area. You can find out what that is by keeping an eye on what price properties in your area are selling at, or by visiting Revenues online valuation guide. Rental income could be used to value your property as a last resort, but generally, it will not give the full picture that Revenue is looking for.
Question 2: My elderly mother no longer lives in her home – does she have to pay?
‘My mother moved in with us permanently last year and will probably stay here for the rest of her life. Her own house is vacant but she received a property tax bill. Does she have to pay?’
Answer: Probably not. Your mother will most likely get an exemption from the property tax in this case. In cases where a residence has been vacated for twelve months or more due to physical or mental illness in the owner, they will not have to pay. This only applies if the property is completely empty, i.e. not being used as a rental property or sub-let. If the house has not been empty for twelve months, your mother may still be exempt from paying the property tax if a doctor can confirm that it is unlikely the owner will ever be able to return to the property. Despite all this, your mother’s property tax letter will still have to be returned to revenue. This is extremely important otherwise Revenue will not be aware of her exemption and she will be automatically charged the tax. When returning the form, you should mark any exemptions into section A of the return. If your mother’s property is owned by more than one person or has been passed on to another member of your family, then they are still obliged to pay the property tax on the residence.
Question 3: What if I refuse to pay?
Answer: Then Revenue will just take it from you. If you are a PAYE worker with a bank account, a pensioner with an occupational pension, or someone who receives social welfare payments, Revenue will take the property tax payment directly from your source of income. Self-assessed tax payers who haven’t paid the LPT will be targeted in October.
Question 4: How will late payments and arrears be dealt with?
Answer: The force with which Revenue will deal with late tax payers will more than likely be directly influenced by the tax payer’s resistance to the tax. Given how vocal they have been about their ability and intention to collect the tax by whatever means necessary, and their wide ranging mechanisms to collect it, we imagine purposely late payment will not be appreciated. As for arrears; for the same reasons as above, we don’t expect there to be any.
Question 5: I can’t afford to pay the property tax all at once. What should I do?
Answer: Don’t panic; Revenue has a couple of different payment options for people wishing to pay in instalments. From most expensive to least expensive, the options are;
1. Credit Card; If you pay by credit card, watch out for hidden charges of up to 1.49%. Paying in instalments? Then you’ll be charged an extra €1 per payment. If you make weekly payments, that adds up to an extra €52 a year on top of your property tax bill. Also, the lower your property band, the higher the additional charge you have to pay is.
2. Payzone Outlets; Making weekly payments via these outlets will incur a charge of €0.75, less than the credit card charge but still not great. This adds up to an extra charge of €39 per year.
3. Bank/Debit Card; Payment will incur an additional fee of €0.30 per payment if you use this method.
3. Omnivend Kiosks; This is the cheapest option for people wanting to pay in weekly instalments, charging just 7 cent extra per payment, which adds up to a yearly surcharge of just €3.50.
Flanagan concluded, “July 1st will see thousands of people throughout the country pay over their LPT tax liability but people only have until May 28th to submit their estimate of what this liability is. We are constantly assisting people with their queries and are aware of how much confusion still exists around the matter.Right now the most important advice we can give to people is to communicate with Revenue – do not ignore this tax”.
Taxback.com is a multi-national corporation providing specialist tax return services to private and corporate clients across 100 countries.
Taxback.com was the overall winner of the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Ireland and winner of a Deloitte Best Managed Companies Award.
Established in Dublin in 1996 and led by a team of entrepreneurial business executives taxback.com has 27 offices worldwide, in Europe, Australasia, the United States and South America, and a staff of over 850.