Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Finance when a refund of deductions of local property tax from a local authority tenant's pension will be granted in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52468/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a key aspect of the work undertaken in regard to Local Property Tax (LPT) was the development of a comprehensive register of residential properties in the State. During the compilation of the Property Register some matching difficulties were encountered when consolidating the various Government and non-Government data sources, and in certain instances the linkage of properties to their relevant owners was not correct. As part of its comprehensive LPT communications strategy, Revenue clearly stated that errors in the compilation of the Property Register were inevitable given the scale of the task and requested that anybody who received incorrect information on their properties should contact the LPT Helpline immediately to avoid unnecessary compliance interventions. Revenue also clearly indicated that such interventions could include mandatory deduction at source from income, pensions, or various other Government payments in accordance with Sections 64, 65, 66 and 67 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended).

In the specific case raised by the Deputy, I am advised by Revenue the difficulties occurred because the person in question failed to make contact with Revenue on foot of either the original issue of the LPT 1 Return in March 2013 or the subsequent reminder that issued to him in July 2013, to confirm that he is not the liable owner of the property. The July reminder specifically advised the person of the imminent commencement of mandatory deduction at source from his pension if he did not address the issue. Unfortunately, because the person did not contact Revenue to confirm the ownership status of the property, an instruction issued to his pension provider to commence mandatory deductions.

Revenue subsequently received notice in August 2013 from the local authority that the person is in fact a tenant and is not the liable owner of the property. On foot of this notification Revenue immediately instructed the pension provider to cease deduction at source and updated the Property Register to reflect the correct ownership details for the property. I am further advised that in September 2013, Revenue also received correspondence from the Deputy confirming that he would act on behalf of the person in regard to LPT. Revenue has assured me that a refund will issue as soon as evidence of payment is received from either the Deputy or from the person. Such evidence will not otherwise be available to Revenue until P35s are received and processed in March/April 2014.