Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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143. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on the work of the Revenue Commissioners to implement the zoned land tax. [55826/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) is a new Tax which was established in Finance Act 2021, and which is designed to activate suitably zoned and serviced land for housing and is a commitment under Housing for All.

The implementation of RZLT involves my Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Revenue and the 31 local authorities in the country. The implementation of RZLT consists of two phases as set out below.

Phase 1– the preparation and publication of maps by the 31 local authorities in the State identifying land within the scope of the measure. This phase is already underway, with draft maps having been published by local authorities on 1 November last. This is being followed by a period of consultation during which landowners can make submissions to the relevant local authority. A full description of the submission process is available on www.gov.ie/rzlt. The initial mapping process will conclude with the preparation and publication of a final map on 1 December 2023. From 2025 onwards, local authorities will update this final map on an annual basis.

Phase 2– the administration of the tax by the Revenue Commissioners will commence in 2024, with the initial liability date for the tax arising on 1 February 2024 and the first pay and file date following on 23 May 2024. In preparation, Revenue has designed a work programme to operationalise RZLT and established a governance structure to deliver the necessary elements of this work programme. A cross-divisional group has been established, comprising officials from operational, collection, IT and policy and legislation areas within Revenue, each of whom is charged with delivering elements of the work programme required to make RZLT operational in advance of the initial liability date of 1 February 2024.

As part of this work programme, Revenue has begun a change management and communications process for external stakeholders, in particular RZLT taxpayers, as well as for Revenue staff. Detailed guidance on the operation of RZLT was published in July 2022 and is available on the Revenue website at: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-22a/22a-01-01.pdf

Revenue also published a webpage on RZLT on its website earlier this month, to coincide with the publication of draft maps by local authorities.