Local Property Tax: Why do I need to revalue my property and how do I do it?
The Revenue Commissioners have begun sending letters to homeowners about the changes to the Local Property Tax.
Revenue confirmed that 30% of the expected number of properties liable for Local Property Tax (LPT) have been filed ahead of the November 7 tax return deadline.
This will update the valuation of homeowner's properties in order to set a new Local Property Tax rate until 2025.
Katie Clair, Head of Revenue’s LPT Branch says Revenue’s LPT Helpline is extremely busy and in recent days, the number of calls received per day has exceeded 10,000.
“The busiest time for calls coming through to our LPT Helpline is between 9.30 and 11.30 each morning. If you are having difficulties getting through to us, please try again later in the day if you can,” she said.
If you have not filed your LPT returns, here’s everything you need to know.
If you haven’t received a letter about your LPT in the post, it may be in your My Documents in myAccount or in your ROS Inbox.
Ms Clair said “some property owners may not have received a letter, for example, where the property was not on the LPT register.
“These property owners still need to do three things by November 7 – value their property, submit their LPT return and indicate on the return how they will pay their LPT for 2022.”
If your property is not currently registered with Revenue, you can register it yourself by clicking on the ‘Register New Property’ link on the Property Services Card in myAccount or in the Other Services section on the ROS homepage.
A residential property price register is available on Revenue.ie for people to assess the value of their property.
Users must enter their Eircode to find their property on the map and will then be given the price band for their address.
A professional valuation is not required, however, it may be needed if an individual's property is in an area between price bands.
They will also accept valuations from information sources such as newspapers, local estate agents and property sales websites, where Revenue advises people to base their rate off properties of similar size and age to their own.
More information on how to find the value of your property can be found at https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/local-property-tax/index.aspx.
For the purposes of the valuation, Revenue says that a residential property will include certain lands or buildings that have a domestic or residential purpose.
These include:
- a yard, garden or patio
- a driveway or parking space
- a garage, shed or greenhouse
- a garden room or home office
Where the land associated with your property is greater than one acre in size, land up to one acre (0.4047 hectares) only should be valued with the property.
For farmers, adjoining farmland or sheds for animals do not have to be valued with a residential property.
Existing tax bands are based on valuations from 2013, however, property prices have jumped significantly in the past eight years.
The Department of Finance says that around 36% of homeowners will see their LPT increase, while around 11% will see a decrease.
More than half of homeowners (53%) will see no change to their bills.
There are 20 prices bands in the new system, with the lowest covering properties worth between €100,000 and €200,000 where homeowners will be charged an annual basic rate of €90.
The next bad sees properties valued between €200,000 and €262,500 with an annual tax rate of €225.
Between bands three and 11, there will be a sliding rate, with Revenue saying all properties in this band facing the same bill.
Homes valued at €1.05m will pay a rate of 0.1029%, rising to 0.25% on the amount between €1.05m and €1.75m, finally rising to 0.3% on the balance.
First-time buyers and news homes bought since 2013 will now also be liable for the tax.
Revenue says this will bring more than 100,000 homes into the LPT system, increasing the tax intake from €480m to around €560m for local authorities and the exchequer.
Exemptions are available to those eligible for the Defective Concrete Block Scheme i.e. homes affected by pyrite and mica.
Homeowner Loren Devers says the process to get on the scheme can be costly.
"You have to get the test done and have your engineers report," she says, "so it actually cost us €5,000 to do that.
"In order to actually get on to the scheme, we had to be fully paid up to date with our local property tax."
Homes converted for people with a disability are also exempt from the LPT.
However, property owners with an exemption from the Local Property Tax will still need to submit an updated valuation to revenue.
The deadline is set at November 7 but Revenue says homeowners who miss the date must still submit their valuations.
Letters have already been issued to homeowners requesting the valuation and will give an estimated tax liability until it is received. Once a person submits their valuation this will be corrected.
Revenue says they will collect the estimation from anyone who does not submit by November 7 and continue to seek the self-assessed valuation.
Once homeowners receive their LPT letter, which will include their property ID and PIN, they will be able to make their payment in one lump sum annually or in several instalments.
Payment options include direct debit, credit card, cheque or you can pay in cash at your local post office.
Further information can be found at Revenue.ie
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