Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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344. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 259 of 3 July 2025, to clarify if land can still apply to be de-zoned despite the deadline having been 1 April if there were mitigating circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38696/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Finance Act 2021 introduced Part 22A Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) into the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. RZLT is designed to prompt residential development by owners of land that satisfies the relevant criteria for the tax, that being that the land is zoned for residential or mixed-use (including residential) purposes and is serviced.

RZLT is an annual tax, calculated at a rate of 3% of the market value of the land within its scope, known as a relevant site. Relevant sites are identified by reference to maps published by local authorities, which are revised on an annual basis, and reflect land that the local authority has determined meets the relevant criteria for the tax, being that the land is zoned for residential or mixed-use (including residential) purposes and that is serviced. While such maps may include residential properties which are subject to Local Property Tax, such properties do not fall within the charge to the tax. The tax is due and payable from 2025 onwards in respect of land which satisfied the relevant criteria in 2022. The first RZLT liability arose on 1 February 2025 and was payable in May 2025, subject to certain exemptions and deferrals.

Finance Act 2024 introduced an opportunity for landowners whose land appeared on the 2025 revised map published by 31 January 2025 to submit a written request for the rezoning of such land to the local authority in whose functional area the land is situated, between 1 February and 1 April 2025. The legislation provides that landowners who made such a rezoning request can claim an exemption from the 2025 liability where certain conditions are met.

Landowners, who made a rezoning request on or before 1 April, seeking to claim the exemption should have registered for RZLT and filed a 2025 RZLT return. The exemption does not apply if the rezoning request relates to land that is the subject of a current planning application (including an application which is the subject of an appeal and/or judicial review) which proposes residential development, or an extant planning permission which allows residential development. If part of the land in respect of which a rezoning submission has been made is the subject of a current planning application for residential development, then that part will still be subject to RZLT for the 2025 year, while the rest of the land may be exempted.

There is no provision in the legislation for the making of a submission requesting a change to the zoning of land included in the 2025 revised map after 1 April 2025.