Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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156. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason a disabled person (details supplied) in County Kerry has not qualified for the maximum valuation band reduction in the chargeable value of their sole residence which has been adapted considering the house prices in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1370/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that there aretwo different types of relief from Local Property Tax (LPT) available in respect of properties that are occupied by disabled individuals.

Section 10B of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for a full exemption from LPT for properties occupied by individuals who are permanently and totally incapacitated to such an extent that they are unable to maintain themselves by earning a living from any kind of work. In the specific case to which the Deputy refers, the person in question lodged a claim for full exemption but was advised that he did not meet the conditions for exemption as he is employed on a full-time basis.

The person subsequently lodged a claim for relief under Section 15A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended). This particular relief takes the form of a reduction in the chargeable value of a property that has been adapted to make it more suitable for occupation by a disabled person.  It is important to note that the chargeable value is not reduced by the actual cost of the adaptation work but, instead, is reduced by the amount (if any) by which the chargeable value has increased as a result of the adaptation work, i.e. the amount of the chargeable value that is directly attributable to the adaptation work. Even relatively substantial adaptations, such as the construction of additional rooms, may not have the effect of moving a property into a higher valuation band given that valuation bands cover a span of €50,000.  This means that, for many properties, there might not be any net effect for LPT purposes as a result of adaptation work.

In this case, the person valued his property at €200,000 at 1 May 3013, putting the property in the valuation band of €150,001 to €200,000. This property would have required a reduction in its chargeable value of at least €50,000 to move into the next lower valuation band of €100,001 to €150,000. As the person spent €50,000 on adaptation work, the chargeable value of the property would have increased by less than this amount. In any event, there is an upper limit on the allowable reduction in a property's chargeable value of the lower of the chargeable value attributable to the adaptation work and the maximum local authority grant that would have been payable (if the person had availed of such a grant) when the adaptation work was carried out. The maximum local authority grant that would have been payable in this case would have been €20,320 or €12,700 (if the property was less than 12 months old at the time).  Regardless of which of these limits would have applied, neither would be sufficient for the property to move into the lower valuation band of €150,001 to €200,000.

In this case, the adaptation work that was carried out does not have the effect of moving the property into a lower valuation band with the result that there is no change in the amount of LPT payable.