Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The reason it is not possible to extend the LPT now to new homes that are being built, in the absence of a revaluation for all, is that we would have to tax properties that have just been built on the basis of the 2013 valuation. Then we would be in the situation of taxing one property that existed in 2013 on that valuation and of finding a way to infer the taxable value of a new property to be built that is consistent with 2013 market pricing. The challenge of doing that and doing it fairly is immense. While I accept and want to, and will, change the fact that some properties do not pay the tax at all, we were not able to come up with a system that would allow us to infer the 2013 value of a property built since 2013.

I would be cautious about changing the weighting of the tax if a property is unoccupied because of the experience I had before this committee where I produced a report on unoccupied properties and discussed whether we would bring in a form of tax on them to encourage greater occupation. The two lessons that came out of that report are, first, that the number of unoccupied properties is much lower than people might expect and, second, those properties may be unoccupied for various reasons, for example, because a person is ill or receiving care. We need to take care about whether we tax it, not that the Deputy is suggesting doing that.

The incentive for people to pay now rather than pay more at a later date is there because the more they clear of the amount that is due the less they will pay in the future because they will be reducing their interest payments.