Tax raises €17m more than expected

COUNCILS have been given a boost of more than €17 million above what was expected from the second home tax introduced last year – and the taxman could also be in for increased coffers.

Just under €57.1m has been paid out under the Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) charge through a dedicated website set up by the Department of the Environment, while millions more may have been paid to city and county councils.

The charge was announced in last April’s budget and is designed to cover the cost of providing services to second and other properties owned by individuals or companies. It is €200 per residence and had to be paid from the end of July to the end of September last year, with a month’s grace added.

The department said it has received €57,096,180 up to Monday morning in respect of 283,528 houses. This is close to 50% higher than the €40 million annual income it had been expected the charge would generate for local authorities.

“This was a rough estimate that we had initially set out, based on the numbers of rental properties registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board,” a Department of Environment spokesperson said.

The 283,528 homes for which payments were made should have attracted an income of just over €56.7m. But because €390,580 was paid out in addition, at least 6,500 homes appear to have been paid for after the October deadline, attracting a late fee of €20 for every month or part of a month for which it is unpaid.

The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009 under which the tax was introduced by Environment Minister John Gormley also allows local authorities and the Revenue Commissioners to share information they collect, meaning tax inspectors could chase up potential income tax from rent accruing from second properties they might not otherwise have known about. A Revenue spokesperson said there have been discussions with local authority groups and, although no information has yet been exchanged, it is likely that agencies will provide data to each other.

Almost a third of the total was collected on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities, which have received just under €18m in payments through the NPPR website, followed by the €6.8m raised for Cork city and county councils.

Other high-earning county councils are Kerry (€2.7m), Donegal and Wexford (€2.3m each).

The next payment of the NPPR will fall due on March 31 and on the same date in future years.

* www.nppr.ie