Vacant homes tax rakes in just over €1.2m from 3,600 properties in first year

The Dublin City Council area had the highest number of declared habitable vacant homes at 675, with 361 deemed not liable for the tax

The new vacant homes tax has raked in just over €1.2m from almost 3,600 vacant habitable homes in its first year, with Cork county having the second highest number in the country.

New figures from Revenue show that the total liability for the self-declared tax stands at €2m with €1.2m collected to date and payment arrangements in place to collect the rest over the coming months.

The Dublin City Council area had the highest number of declared habitable vacant homes at 675, with 361 deemed not liable for the tax, followed by the Cork County Council area with 518 declared vacant homes and 208 deemed not liable for the tax.

The figures were provided to Fine Gael TD for Cork East, David Stanton, in response to a parliamentary question.

He said he believes the data shows that some people may not be fully aware of their tax liability in respect of such properties.

“But we have substantial grants available too, up to €50,000 in certain circumstances, to bring vacant habitable homes back into use, and there are Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants on top of that, could add up to €30,000 more,” said Mr Stanton.

“We need to make more people aware of the tax, but also we need to do what we can through the grants to encourage and support the owners of vacant homes to bring them back into use, to either sell or rent.”

Against the backdrop of a chronic housing crisis, the Government announced the tax in Budget 2023 in an effort to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase.

The annual self-assessed tax applies to a residential property that is stayed in for fewer than 30 days in a 12-month period. It does not apply to derelict or uninhabitable properties.

It is charged annually at three times the base local property tax (LPT) rate and is charged in addition to LPT.

The first chargeable period applied from November 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023, with liable owners having to file a return with Revenue electronically by November 7, 2023.

Revenue’s online vacant home tax portal went live on September 25, 2023, with a three-step process to allow property owners to file a return, claim an exemption, make payments, and submit documents.

Mr Stanton was told that the three-step process through the portal has been completed in respect of 56,779 properties, with 50,710 properties being declared as either occupied or not subject to the tax, and 6,069 properties declared as vacant, and, of these, exemptions have been claimed in respect of 2,485 properties.

Vacant property register

Revenue has also developed a vacant property register with data drawn from sources including GeoDirectory, the Residential Tenancies Board, ESB Networks, and Revenue’s LPT register, and will use this register to identify residential properties which may come within the scope of the vacant homes tax.

It has written to about 25,000 single property owners and 728 multi-property owners requesting they log onto the portal to confirm whether the properties are occupied or vacant, and said it will continue to refine the register and may contact further property owners following data analysis.