Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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177. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason a householder cannot pay the €200 household charge from payroll in the same way as local property tax is deducted, as is outlined in legislation (details supplied). [34352/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that in accordance with section 156 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended), where the Household Charge for 2012 has not been paid by 1 July 2013 the arrears amount is increased to €200 of Local Property Tax. The arrears amount will be included as part of the LPT liability in respect of the property and will be collected by Revenue. I am further informed that the process to transition the collection of Household Charge arrears from the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) to the Revenue Commissioners is underway and will progress further when the Commissioners receive a file from the LGMA of those property owners who have paid the Household Charge. At that stage, Revenue will still have a significant amount of work to do to match the LGMA's Household Charge register with their own LPT register in order to identify any non-compliant Household Charge cases.

The immediate priority for Revenue, therefore, is to ensure that they have the most accurate details of these non-compliant cases and, in the short-term, it will not be possible to facilitate payment of arrears of Household Charge by way of deduction at source from salary and wages. I am advised, however, that Revenue's computer systems are being updated to allow payment of the arrears by all of the various payment options available, including by means of deduction at source, and they expect to have the necessary changes completed by the end of September.

In the meantime, property owners can pay the €200 arrears by cheque, postal order or similar which should be sent to Local Property Tax Branch, Revenue Commissioners PO Box 1, Limerick. The Commissioners recommend that taxpayers note their Property ID and PPSN or tax reference number on the back of the cheque or postal order.

Property owners are requested to include the following information with their payment: Property ID (if available) and address details of the property for which the customer is paying the arrears; Customer's name; Customer's PPSN or tax reference number; and Confirmation that the payment is for Household Charge arrears

With these details, a property owner can also pay by telephone using debit or credit card by calling the LPT Helpline on 1890 200 255.

Further information is available in the Frequently Asked Questions on payment of Household Charge arrears, which are on Revenue's website www.revenue.ie .