Vacancy tax payments in decline despite estimate of 82,000 vacant properties

Opposition TDs question whether tax is reaching those eligible with €1.6m due to Revenue from 2024

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the Department of Finance must conduct an 'urgent review' into the tax. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Only a fraction of owners of vacant residential properties have paid the vacant homes tax (VHT), and the latest figures show the number of payments are actually falling.

There are estimated to be more than 82,000 vacant properties across the country, yet Revenue has confirmed that just €1.6m is due to be taken in from the vacant homes tax in 2024.