Homeowners have been given a reprieve on a deadline for returning their local property tax valuation.
The Revenue Commissioners had set a deadline of November 7th, this Sunday, for all homeowners to submit an updated property valuation on which their local property tax (LPT) would be based. Homeowners are obliged to return on the basis of the value of their home as of November 1st.
However, the tax office announced this morning that the deadline has now been extended until 5pm on Wednesday next, November 10th.
Revenue made the announcement on Friday amid what it said was an “extremely strong” rate of filing of returns by homeowners across the State in the past week.
Earlier in the week, Revenue announced just 43 per cent of property owners had filed returns as of last Monday. That figure has now risen to 54 per cent.
In the last three days, it said, returns for more than 250,000 properties had been filed, bringing the overall number above one million. Revenue says that €71 million in tax has already been paid and €273 million in new payment arrangements have been put in place. Just over half of property owners (51.7 per cent) have paid by annual or monthly direct debit; 27.1 per cent have paid by credit or debit card; while just 1 per cent paid by cash or cheque, with the remaining payments either deducted at source (11.4 per cent)or paid by a service provider (8.8 per cent). Of the returns filed to date, over half (52.7 per cent) valued their homes at under €262,500, with almost one in four (37.1 per cent) valuing their properties between €262,501 and €437,500. The majority (85.8 per cent) of those who have submitted their returns own just one property .
Stress over returns
“With this high level of engagement expected to continue to increase further in the coming days, it is clear that property owners are making every effort to fully comply with their LPT obligations,” a spokeswoman for Revenue said.
“LPT requires property owners to submit a return to Revenue and we are very conscious that this can cause a degree of worry and stress for property owners who do not have a reason to engage directly with Revenue on an ongoing basis.
“Revenue is also very conscious that this is the first revaluation for LPT since it was first introduced over eight years ago. In light of this and having regard to the fact that the return filing deadline falls on Sunday, Revenue has extended the LPT return filing deadline to 5pm next Wednesday, November 10th, 2021.”
The tax office said it has fielded more than 80,000 calls to its LPT helpline this week, bringing to 264,300 the total number of calls to date. It has received 40,900 pieces of correspondence so far, including 15,000 this week alone.
The revaluation is the first since the government introduced local property tax eight years ago. However, the Government has reduced the rate of the tax so that most homeowners should see no change in their local property
