Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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63. To ask the Minister for Finance the criteria that should be used by a person registering for the local property tax who is in the process of signing over the property to a family member; if the property in such a situation should be registered by one or both parties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26332/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Based on the information provided by the Deputy it is not possible to give a definitive reply. However, by way of general information the following may be of relevance in this case. A liability for Local Property Tax (LPT) arises where a person is a liable person in relation to a residential property on the liability date, which is 1 May 2013 for the year 2013. The Finance (Local Property Tax) Act, as amended, defines a liable person as “a person who holds any estate, interest or right in a relevant residential property entitling the person to either immediate possession of such property for a period that may equal or exceed 20 years; or the receipt of rents or profits of such property for a period that may equal or exceed 20 years”.

I have been informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the owner of a residential property is generally the liable person for the purposes of the charge to LPT. The Deputy indicates that the owner is currently in the process of signing over the property to a family member and it is therefore assumed that this transfer was not completed on 1 May 2013. In that case, the property should only be registered in the name of the current liable person.

The Commissioners advise that when the transfer is complete, details of the new liable person in respect of the property in question should be notified to Revenue so that the LPT Register can be updated accordingly. Furthermore, as the meaning of sale includes a transfer of property, the person who is the liable person as at 1 May 2013 is required to pay any 2013 LPT due before they complete the transfer, notwithstanding that the LPT is not payable until 1 July 2013.