Buyers face up to €180 property tax hike

Thousands of homeowners, encouraged by the Government to get on the property ladder when the market was on its knees, face significantly higher property tax bills than the rest of the country as a result of a valuation anomaly.

First-time buyers who bought homes since 2013 will be forced to pay up to €180 extra in Local Property Tax (LPT) when an exemption designed to stimulate the market comes to an end next year.

Some 11,000 first-time buyers who availed of the exemption now find themselves at risk of falling into the valuation trap as a result of the tax being applied to a current valuation of their home, as opposed to at 2013 levels which were up to 40% lower in some areas.