Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together.

The Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) as announced in Budget 2023, aims to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase to meet demand. Legislative provision for the tax was made in the Finance Act 2022. A residential property will be within the scope of VHT, if it has been occupied as a dwelling for less than 30 days in a chargeable period.

VHT operates on a self-assessment basis, where the number of properties in scope and the amount of tax payable, depends on the self-assessed returns submitted by property owners, the number of properties declared as liable, and the number of property owners entitled to claim available exemptions from the tax. The first chargeable period commenced on 1 November 2022 and ended on 31 October 2023. The first self-assessed returns were due on 7 November 2023 and the associated tax payable on or before 1 January 2024.

VHT does not apply to derelict or uninhabitable properties. Where a property is uninhabitable, to such an extent that it is not suitable for occupation, it is outside the scope of VHT and is not taxable. In such circumstances, the property owner is not required to file a VHT Return.

I am advised by Revenue that the online VHT Portal became available to the public on 25 September 2023, where property owners can confirm the occupation status of their property, file VHT Returns, make payments, and submit any necessary documentation to Revenue. The VHT portal guides the user through 3 steps, which allows them to either declare that the property is outside the scope of the tax, or to file the VHT return.

Revenue has developed a vacant property register with data drawn from a range of sources including GeoDirectory, the Residential Tenancies Board, ESB Networks and Revenue’s own LPT register. The register is used to identify residential properties which may come within the scope of VHT. To date, Revenue have written to approximately 25,000 single property owners and 728 multi-property owners requesting the property owners to log onto the portal to confirm whether the properties are occupied or vacant and if applicable, to submit a return. Revenue will continue to refine the vacant property register and may contact further property owners at a later date, following data analysis.

Notwithstanding, property owners are required to submit a return if they determine that VHT applies to their property, even if they do not receive correspondence from Revenue.

To date, the 3-step process through the VHT portal has been completed in respect of 56,779 properties, with 50,710 properties being declared as either occupied or not subject to VHT and 6,069 properties declared as vacant. Of these, exemptions have been claimed in respect of 2,485 properties. Total liability to VHT as of 31 January 2024 is €2m of which, €1.2m has been collected, with Direct Debit (DD) or Annual Debit Instruction (ADI) payment arrangements in place for the balance.

While data is not currently available on the amount of VHT collected in each local authority area, the following table provides a breakdown of vacant properties by Local Authority as of 4 March 2024.