Q&A: NPPR could mean major bill for home owners

In April 2009, the door to a permanent tax on domestic property was opened with the introduction of the €200 annual charge on Non-Principal Private Residences.

Initially there was resistance to the levy on properties which, for many, already represented considerable financial burdens, particularly in a climate when mortgages attached to buy-to-let properties were more likely to be in default.

The estimates were that 200,000 people would be liable, but it required self-registration and owners were slow to pay by the first penalty deadline on October 31, 2009.