Councils open for last-minute home tax rush

Arrangements are being put in place to open local authority offices on the weekend of the deadline for payment of the household charge in anticipation of a last-minute rush.

It comes as Environment Minister Phil Hogan failed to rule out the prospect of pensioners being hauled before the courts for not paying the €100 charge.

Just 16% of homeowners have registered to pay the levy so far.

Mr Hogan yesterday insisted that the Mar 31 deadline for payment would not be extended.

This is despite the fact that some of the minister’s colleagues in Fine Gael have complained about the quality of the Government’s campaign to inform the public about the charge.

There have been numerous reports of citizens, particularly pensioners, expressing confusion about liability for the charge and how to pay it.

“Whoever doesn’t pay the charge will be liable for the charge in law. And people have to think long and hard about whether they want to be in the court in order to ensure that this particular charge is paid,” he told RTÉ.

He conceded there was “some anecdotal evidence” that not every household had received a Government information leaflet on the charge.

However, he said everybody should know of the charge by this stage because of the “publicity it has received”.

“The minister certainly can’t go to every door and tell them what their legal obligations are,” he said.

By the close of business last week, just over €26m had been paid by homeowners.

With the deadline looming, the amount is well short of the €160m the Government is hoping to raise from the levy.

The Government is now making plans for local authority offices to remain open on deadline weekend in anticipation of a rush by homeowners to pay the charge.

The 34 primary local authority offices across the country — 29 county councils and five city councils — will be specially opened up on Saturday, Mar 31.

The Department of Environment, which oversees the charge, will release details of extended office opening hours in the coming days.

A number of smaller local authority buildings, including motor tax offices, will also remain open on the Saturday to facilitate payers.

The measure comes with figures on the weekend showing that just 261,563 properties out of an estimated 1.6m around the country have been registered for the charge.

This equates to 16.3% of property owners.

Fine Gael TD John Deasy last week claimed the household charge issue was a “shambles” and party colleague Kieran O’Donnell argued the online system for paying the levy was “cumbersome”.

Mr Hogan has warned that late payments received after Mar 31 will be subject to a €10 sanction which will increase over time if the levy remains unpaid.

His officials say final arrangements are being made to identify homeowners who fail to register through data obtained from the ESB, Revenue, and the Department of Social Protection.

However, opponents of the charge say it will be impossible for the Government to recoup unpaid amounts as tens of thousands of homeowners would have to be dragged into court.

United Left Alliance TDs and several Independents are hosting meetings around the country to drum up opposition to payment of the levy.