LAST UPDATE | 1 Jun 2021

PEOPLE WHO OWN homes built since 2013 will no longer be exempt from property tax, as part of the government’s pandemic recovery package.

It was confirmed today that all homes are to be revalued in November under plans to bring tens of thousands of homes built in recent years into the property tax net. 

At a press briefing today, Martin said that any “re-calibration” of the scheme “will be fair and will be affordable”.

“I believe it is important that all homes pay local property tax the same, it is tax for local services and what the Government agreed today is a plan to bring those homes into paying local property tax but to do it in a way that is affordable for the country,” Donohoe told RTÉ’s News at One programme.

He later told reporters in Government Buildings that the re-evaluation of properties has been deferred on three separate occasions, resulting in more than 100,00 houses not paying local property tax.

“We are at the point we have to go ahead with re-evaluations,” he said, confirming that these will take place in November. 

Bills will be landing in the post in the early part of next year.

The minister said most homes will not face an increase and those that do, the government will make sure it is affordable. 

Donohoe confirmed that it remains the case that Dublin properties will be hardest hit with the tax, stating that “the more the property is worth, the more tax you will pay”. 

Cabinet signed off on changes in the tax bands, said the minister as well as the rate at which a person pays their LPT so as to ensure “all over the country the bills are affordable”.

Changes will also be made to the equalisation fund in 2023 and 2024 to ensure that the local property tax raised in the area is spent in the locality. Government will provide the equalisation funds through the Exchequer to ensure that no local authority faces a shortfall.

He said he is aware these property tax changes are happening at a time of great difficulty for many people.

However, he believes a case has to be made that if everyone pays the tax it will be spent locally, which is a departure to how the system currently operates. 

He said it is important to demonstrate to people that their tax payments is going to their local community.

Full details of the scheme will be announced tomorrow, the Taoiseach said.

Responding to the changes, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said: “The property tax is one of the most regressive taxes that was ever introduced.”

“It applies to debt as well as to the assets. It takes no account of inability to pay”, he said. “I sat on on South Dublin County Council when this tax was introduced, for every euro that was raised in local property taxes on South Dublin County Council, a euro was taken away in central government grants. In fact, we were no better off.”

“This tax needs to be scrapped”, Ó Broin said.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe told RTÉ’s News at One that there will be a new valuation of homes from November, for property tax purposes, this year. He said most homes will not have their property tax increased, and most homes that do will face an increase of about €90 per year.

Last month, The Journal reported that the Minister for Finance was asked to consider whether a multiple of the LPT for vacant apartments could be used to discourage institutional landlords from leaving their properties idle.

But homes built after 2013 were not subject to LPT anyway.

The package will also see 500,000 homes retrofitted to a B2 energy standard rating. Houses with this rating have low levels of heat loss thanks to wall and attic insulation and and window and door upgrades.

Retrofit training is being rolled out this year to meet the demand for jobs in energy efficiency that this project will bring.

The Government is also launching a number of measures to help businesses reopen. The employment wage subsidy scheme is to be extended from 30 June until 31 December.

The current payment rates will be maintained in July, August, and September, and eligibility for the scheme will be extended.

A new business resumption support scheme will be launched in September, the Taoiseach added, and commercial rates will be waived for a further three months.

The 9% reduced VAT rate for hospitality will be extended until at least the end of September.

Martin called the overall package “the very opposite of austerity”.

With reporting by Christina Finn