More households seeking deferment of local property tax

There has been a sharp increase in the number of households seeking to defer payment of the local property tax this year.

Figures published by Revenue show a 22% rise, so far in 2016, in the number of residential property owners and tenants hoping to postpone payment of the tax.

More than 6,500 extra households have applied to defer payment of the tax this year bringing the total number of applicants to 36,125 out of 1.85 million properties liable for the tax — a figure which represents almost 2% of all households.

Figures supplied to Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall show Dublin City Council has the highest number of deferral claimants with 4,863 applicants followed by Cork County (2,604) and South Dublin (2,249).

On a per capita basis the highest rate of deferral was in Co Louth where 2.6% sought to defer payment against the average of 1.9%.

The lowest rate was in Galway City where 1.4% sought a deferral. Under the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, a system of deferral arrangements is available for individuals who have an inability to pay and where certain conditions are met. The vast majority of deferral claims (94.6%) are on the basis that the household is earning below a specified income of €15,000 for single adult households and €25,000 for couples.

Other circumstances for which a deferral may be granted are for personal representatives of a deceased person, personal insolvency, and hardship grounds.

A decision to grant deferral is not an exemption and the full amount of the local property tax remains payable together with an interest charge of 4% per annum.

The deferred tax remains a charge on the property in the event of non-payment and is repaid to Revenue when the property is sold or transferred to another person.

In the past seven months, Revenue has issued 290,000 compliance letters about local property tax payments, while full debt collection or enforcement action is being taken in 590 cases where the tax has not been paid.