THE REVENUE COMMISSIONERS has now issued over one million local property tax letters to homes across the country with over 25,000 completing their returns so far.

Figures released last night show that there have been a total of 1,008,184 property tax letters issued with 25,382 returns completed. When broken down, 15,237 of these have been done electronically with 10,145 completing paper returns.

There have been over 750,000 hits on the valuation guidance website though Revenue did not specify if ‘hits’ referred to page views or unique visitors.

There have been 35,846 calls to the local property tax helpline, a three-fold increase on figures from last week. Revenue said hat the highest number of calls came on Monday when there were 8,331 calls placed.

Average waiting time is eight seconds and the longest waiting time is one minute and 44 seconds.

In response to queries in the past week Revenue re-emphasised that the tax is self-assessed and that its estimate which appears on forms is only relevant when somebody does not complete and file their return.

“In some cases the estimate, which is based on average property prices for the area, will be greater than the liability based on your self-assessment and in some cases it will be lower but it doesn’t matter – once the return is submitted, the estimate is no longer relevant,” Revenue said.

It said that though it has engaged “extensively” with local authority and social housing groups there may be instances of letters being issued to tenants in such properties but it said if this happens then tenants should contact Revenue.

“It is most important that a tenant doesn’t ignore the letter because in the absence of any correction, Revenue will proceed on the basis that he or she is liable to pay LPT in respect of the property,” it said.