Written answers

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Department of Finance

Property Taxation Exemptions

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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217. To ask the Minister for Finance if there is any exemption on the property tax for persons who bought their homes in 2008 and paid huge stamp duty, and for those whose property has had extensive flooding damage and cannot get their home valued as it cannot be sold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22819/13]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Government decided that a universal liability to the Local Property Tax (LPT) should apply to all owners of residential properties with a limited number of exemptions.

The Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, as amended, does not contain an exemption related to the previous payment of Stamp Duty. The Inter-Departmental Expert Group on the Design of a Property Tax (the “Thornhill Group”) recommended against allowances for Stamp Duty because such allowances would not be targeted at need, and this recommendation was accepted by the Government. The LPT legislation provides for a system of deferrals which is targeted at cases of need. There is provision for deferral of LPT for income stressed households who are meeting high levels of mortgage interest. Full details of the LPT deferral options can be found in the answer to Parliamentary Question No. 69 of 25 April (Reference No. 19631/13) and on www.revenue.ie.

This Government is committed to helping address the problems faced by those that bought homes at the height of the property boom between 2004 and 2008. In this regard, in Budget 2012, I fulfilled the commitment in the Programme for Government to increase the rate of mortgage interest relief to 30 per cent for first time buyers who took out their first mortgage in that period. Mortgage holders will qualify for the increased rate if they made their first mortgage interest payment in the period 2004 to 2008 or if they drew down their mortgage in that period. The relief is available up to and including the tax year 2017 on the interest paid on qualifying home loans taken out between 1 January 2004 and before 1 January 2013.

There are no specific exemptions from LPT for those whose properties are susceptible to flooding. The LPT is a self-assessed tax and therefore it is a matter for the property owner to calculate the tax due based on his or her assessment of the market value of the property. Issues such as a potential liability to flooding would be one of the factors that a property owner would take into account in valuing their property. Where a property owner makes a valuation in an honest and reasonable manner, that valuation will not be challenged by Revenue in accordance with its normal Customer Service Charter.

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