Only 12,500 homeowners have adjusted their Local Property Tax (LPT) valuation in the past three years, after being contacted by Revenue. This includes 1,500 in 2017.
In many cases, this was done before putting a home on the market. If a taxpayer sells their property at substantially above the rateable value they put on it back in May 2013 when the tax was introduced, they must get clearance from the Revenue. If the sale price is more than 50 per cent above the rateable valuation outside Dublin and 80 per cent in the capital, they require formal Revenue clearance.
Assessed
The Revenue’s compliance programme has also been targeting those who assessed the price of their property at a far lower level than guide values issued when the tax was introduced in May 2013.
Revenue has sent nearly a million letters to homeowners over the past three years regarding their LPT. However, around 95 per cent of those letters related to actual payment of the LPT, for example if you forgot to make the annual payment or a direct debit failed to go through.
“The compliance programme considers all risk, including comparative valuations of similar properties,” a Revenue spokeswoman said.
Anomalies
“Where this analysis identifies unexplained anomalies or ‘outliers’, the property owner may be asked to clarify how the 2013 valuation was arrived at, and to provide supporting documentation,” she said.
The LPT is based on property values from May 2013. Property tax bills will remain frozen until 2019, when the tax is expected to be recalculated based on property prices at that time, although Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has indicated this deadline might be extended on account of the rapid rise in values in some areas.
The Revenue’s latest LPT statistics, published on Friday, show it took €477 million in LPT last year, a compliance rate of 97 per cent, in line with other years.
