HOMEOWNERS who made their Local Property Tax (LPT) valuation honestly and fairly will not have to pay more when they are selling their home.

A spokesperson for the Revenue Commissioners said once the tax valuation made by homeowners on 1 May 2013 can be justified then there should not be an issue. 

Clarifying the process in which a home seller sells their home in which the value has increased, the Revenue said that if the house has increased in value by more than 15 per cent a process may kick in where the valuation made must be justified.

Valuation 

If a home is sold for 15 per cent over its estimated value, the homeowner faces a Revenue assessment.

“The value of the home still stands until the end of 2016,” said the spokesperson, adding that the Revenue is just seeking back up evidence that the valuation of the home made in May 2013 was not lower than it should have been.

Clearance will only be provided by Revenue if relevant documentation such as a house valuation or evidence from property websites like Daft.ie can show that the valuation was correct and made in good faith.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, a spokesperson for Revenue said that people will not be penalised for their house increasing in value since 2013, adding that they just wanted to know how the homeowner arrived at the original valuation.

Penalised

She said that some homeowners who could not justify their original valuation have been penalised, although she did not have the exact figures.

“But it is not coming up as an issue,” she added, saying “not unless your original value was under declared”.

They advised that anyone selling their home, where the value of the property has increased by 15%, should contact the Revenue with the relevant documentation that justifies their 2013 property valuation.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Stephen Curtis from the Irish Mortgage Holders Association, said that if homeowners valued their property properly and paid the proper amount of tax then there should not be a problem.

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