Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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187. To ask the Minister for Finance the different income streams directly paid by persons to his Department or agencies under his remit, such as motor tax; the number of persons making annual payments; the value of same; the number of payments made through staged or increment payments; the value of same; the additional income generated as a result of payments being made on an incremental basis; if incremental payments are not available, the reason for same; the corresponding figures for 1999 and 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30854/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that there are no income streams paid by persons directly to my Department.

One of the seventeen bodies under the remit of my Department, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, has such an income stream in the form of the Local Property Tax (LPT).

In 2018, approximately 735,000 property owners (53% of LPT property owners) made payments on an annual basis with an approximate value of €240m and approximately 660,000 property owners (47% of LPT property owners) made payments on a phased basis with an approximate value of €250m.

Local Property Tax was introduced with effect from 1 July 2013. It is payable in respect of all residential properties, subject to certain exemptions. It is administered by Revenue in accordance with the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, as amended. Liability for LPT arises where a person owns a residential property on the liability date which is 1 May 2013 for the year 2013 and 1 November in the preceding year for subsequent years. For example, the liability date for 2019 is 1 November 2018.

Revenue provides a wide range of phased and single payment options for LPT. The phased payment options include monthly direct debit through a financial institution, payment via deduction at source (DaS) from salary or pension and via approved payment service providers (An Post, Omnivend, Payzone). The single payment options include debit card, credit card, Annual Debit Instruction (ADI) and cheque.

There are no additions to the amount of LPT due regardless of which payment option a property owner chooses. Therefore, Revenue does not generate any additional income as a result.

Also, while Revenue does not apply any service fees, the financial institutions and approved payment service providers are commercial entities and do charge transaction fees.