Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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114. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the local property tax telephone number; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16313/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that since the introduction of Local Property Tax (LPT) in March 2013 Revenue has answered in excess of 1,000,000 telephone calls and has replied to in excess of 350,000 letters or emails.

Revenue has confirmed to me that some delays were experienced in accessing the LPT Helpline in the days leading up to the 31 March LPT/Household Charge (HHC) compliance deadline. The delays were a direct result of the very heavy volumes of telephone queries received, which exceeded 40,000 for the three days up to and including 31 March.

In response to the service demand, Revenue extended the compliance deadline from 31 March to 5pm on 2 April and significantly increased the number of call agents on both the Helpline and on the internal customer support service. Revenue also extended the opening hours from 9am/5pm to 8am/8pm up to the extended deadline.

Significantly, Revenue confirmed through its various media campaigns and through recorded messages on its Helpline that anyone who left contact details on the Helpline recording system would receive a call back as soon as possible and would be considered compliant providing the issue/s in question was dealt with in a timely fashion once the call back was received. Equally so, anyone who corresponded in writing or by email would also be considered compliant on the same basis.

I would like to remind the Deputy that the due date for payment of HHC arrears was 1 July 2013 while the due date for payment of 2014 LPT was 1 January 2014, with the exception of the single debit authority (SDA) payment option deadline of 21 March. On that basis, property owners have had significant periods of time to get their affairs in order. Considering the statutory deadlines have already passed, Revenue is to be commended for the efforts it has made through the extended deadline/s to give people the opportunity to meet their obligations without having to suffer the consequences of extra liabilities that can be levied in the event of late or non-payment.

The Deputy should also be aware that, to assist taxpayers meet their LPT/HHC obligations at a time that best suits individual circumstances, Revenue has developed an easy to use online system, which includes the full suite of available payment, deferral and exemption options. The online system is available 24 hours a day and in most instances removes the need for liable persons to make any contact with Revenue.

It needs to be borne in mind that Revenue has taken LPT from concept to a fully functioning tax in a very short period of time a task that included the drafting of legislation, the building of a brand new property register and the provision of customer service to such a large volume of taxpayers. LPT has contributed €533m to the Exchequer in respect of 2013 and 2014 year to date.