Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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295. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when new maps of the approximate 9,000ha of land which will fall under the scope of the new zoned land tax will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56015/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Finance has the lead responsibility for the new zoned land tax, with legislation setting out the provisions relating to the tax measure included in Finance Bill 2021. The purpose of the proposed measure is to activate existing residential zonings where the zoned land is serviced, but remains undeveloped.

The scope of the tax is proposed to be based on lands zoned for housing development on statutory development plan or local area plan zoning maps, where such lands are able to connect to the necessary infrastructure to enable housing development and for which there is capacity available, with land subject to known issues relating to contamination or the presence of known archaeological or historic remains, to be excluded.

The lands falling into scope are in the first instance, all land zoned as of 01 January 2022 and meeting the above criteria with regard to servicing and taking into account any exclusions. These lands must be identified by each local authority on ‘residential zoned land’ maps to be published in advance of the introduction of the measure on 1 February 2024.

Each local authority will therefore be required to prepare and publish a map to indicate the land falling within the scope of the tax, with the final map to be published by 1 December 2023. In advance of this, it will be necessary to publish an initial draft map by 1 November 2022 to identify the land in question. Preparation of the map will involve consultation with infrastructure providers to provide a robust evidence base with regard to servicing, including capacity.

Landowners will be given the opportunity to challenge the identification of their land as being within scope (with such challenge being limited to consideration of the exclusions set out within the legislation). Where the local authority fails to uphold this challenge, the landowner may appeal this decision to An Bord Pleanála.

The timescales for the various stages of the process will be specified in order to ensure the map can be updated by the local authority by 1 December 2023, in advance of the measure coming into effect on 1 February 2024.

Once established, maps will be updated every year, to reflect any changes in zoning, development servicing status or other criteria which would bring land into or out of scope. Where any land comes into scope after 1 January 2022, such land would not be liable for the tax until 3 years later.

The tax will be a percentage of site value, to be self-assessed by the landowner where in scope, with liability and enforcement arrangements to be managed through the Revenue system. Any site occupied by a dwelling liable for Local Property Tax will not be liable for the tax.