Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if in assessing the valuation of a property for the property tax, the existence of an enurement clause on a planning which restricts the sale of a house and therefore its valuation will be taken into account when the value of a house is being assessed for the tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10765/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 sets out how the tax is to be administered and how a residential property is to be valued for LPT purposes.

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that Local Property Tax (LPT) is a self-assessed tax so in the first instance it is a matter for the property owner to calculate the tax due based on his or her assessment of the chargeable value of the property. The chargeable value is defined in the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 and means the price that the unencumbered fee simple of a residential property might be expected to fetch on a sale on the open market were that property to be sold on the valuation date of 1 May 2013, in a manner that would secure the best possible price for the property. Therefore, in assessing the market value of a residential property no account may be taken of any encumbrance or restriction on the sale of a property such as the enurement clause referred to by Deputy Ó Cuív.

I am further advised that the Revenue Commissioners are preparing valuation guidance which, taken together with the owner’s own knowledge of the property, will assist him or her in assessing its value. The guidance will include an online guide that will provide indicative property valuation bands depending on the property type, age and location and it will be available on the Revenue website prior to the issue of returns to property owners. The guidance will also draw property owners’ attention to the publicly available property price register produced by the Property Services Regulatory Authority which provides an actual sales price for all properties sold in the State since January 2010. As I have previously advised the House, where the Revenue guidance is used in an honest manner, the property valuation made by a property owner will not be challenged by Revenue in accordance with its normal Customer Service Charter.