Holiday home tax could kick in next month

A €200 TAX on rental or holiday homes will be imposed as early as next month after the new levy was passed in the Dáil with less than three hours of debate last night.

The Local Government (Charges) Bill will become law after going through the Seanad today. It contains a number of changes from the originally proposed bill after Environment Minister John Gormley was forced to back down on imposing the tax on mobile homes and granny flats.

Fine Gael’s Phil Hogan said the amendments were “dragged out” of him on the national airwaves after both issues caused widespread anger on phone in programmes such as Liveline.