Half of commercial rates based on 1980s valuations

More than half of all rates paid on commercial properties are based on property values from 30 years ago because a programme to update them is running years behind schedule.

The National Property Revaluation Programme was legislated for in 2001 to bring rateable valuations up to date but only began re-evaluations in 2005 and has so far worked its way through just 15 local authorities, accounting for fewer than half of all rateable properties.

Many of the new valuations are already out of date because the law says they must be re-evaluated every 10 years. IT deficiencies have been blamed for the crawling pace of the exercise, which has cost €41m to date.

The flawed programme is investigated by the Comptroller and Auditor General whose annual report reveals waste, inefficiencies, and lack of oversight across a wide range of Government departments and public bodies in their management of taxpayers’ money.

Among the examples highlighted in the report is a case where the Department of Justice spent almost €4m on leasing, fitting-out, and legal costs for a property that was earmarked for a Probation Service project but was never used.

The same department spent €3.6m on a computer system for the Insolvency Service of Ireland which was never fit for purpose and now needs to be replaced.

The Revenue Commissioners are taken to task for failing to act to collect €661m in tax liabilities which they determined were “available for collection” but were not subject to any phased payment agreements or enforcement proceedings.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland, meanwhile, had to pay €4.6m last year to the contractor in the public-private partnership that developed the Limerick Tunnel as compensation for the shortfall in toll revenue due to the lower than expected levels of traffic using the route.

Questions are also raised about the corporate tax regime which allows 13 of the top 100 companies ranked by taxable income to pay an effective rate of corporate tax of less than 1%.

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming, said he is concerned by some of the report’s findings and said the committee will examine them in detail in the months ahead.

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