The  Household Charge -  came into force in Ireland on January 1st 2012.   Most owners  of residential property in Ireland are liable for the household charge on each residential  property they owned  as at 1st January 2012. Home owners who live outside Ireland are also expected to register for and and pay the charge. The 2012 Household Charge amount is €100

Under the legislation- owners of residential properties are  required to make a declaration of liability and to pay the household charge by 31 March 2012

No bills or invoices  for the household charge will be sent out – the charge will be on a self declaration basis.

The definition of a residential property includes  – houses, maisonettes, flats, apartments and , bedsits.  So – the owner of a building split into 5 bedsits will be liable for five lots of Household Charge.

A  residential building is liable if it is occupied, or suitable for occupation.

Mobile homes are not classed as residential property and are not liable.
Tenants do not have to register for the Household Charge.

A property  which is let to more than one tenant with  exclusive use of a bedroom for each person and joint use of common areas will only be liable for one Household Charge

Registration and payment of the Household Charge  can be carried out online on the HouseholdCharge.ie  website.   Payment by Mastercard, Visa or  Laser accepted .
The new charges can be paid as a  one off payment  or by 4  direct debit installments (March , May, July and Sept). Direct Debits must be done before March 1st.

More about the Household Charge here

Home Owners  can also print off a registration form on the Householdcharge website and send it by post with payment by cheque to  Household Charge, PO Box 12168, Dublin 1
Registration forms should also be available  from City / County Councils; Libraries; Citizens Advice Centres or by calling LoCall  1890 357 357.  From March 14th- forms are also available in Post Offices

You can pay the Household Charge by  cash at your local Council Office but only before March 31st. There is no additional fee fee for over the counter payments.

The liability date for 2012 is January 1st -  and households will have three months to pay before  Late payment penalties  apply as follows :

Payments made within 3 and 6 months of January 2012 – a 10% penalty.
Payments made between 6 and 12 months late – a 20% penalty.
Payments more than 12 months late – a 30% penalty plus 1% interest per month

So – if  someone is 12 months late paying the €100 household charge – they will owe €130 plus another €12 interest  – a total of €142.

If  charges remain unpaid a charge will remain attached to the property.

The new Household Charge will apply to properties on which NPPR is also being paid. More about NPPR here

The following  exemptions from the Household Charge apply:

The following buildings  are not defined as  residential property and will not be liable for the charge :  Buildings that are …

• Part of the trading stock of a business and from which no income has been derived since the building’s construction, and  has never been used as a dwelling.

• vested in certain public authorities (including property where households are purchasing their homes under the Shared Ownership Scheme and where the local authority still retains an ownership stake)

• owned by voluntary housing bodies;

• wholly used as dwellings and liable for commercial rates

An owner of a residential property is exempt from the household charge if , on the liability date, the residential property is:

• Comprised in a discretionary trust;

• Owned by an approved charity;

• Vacated by the owner by reason of long term mental or physical infirmity. (long term is more than 12 months)

Waivers

The following households will have the charge waived :

1. Those in receipt of mortgage interest supplement -  (about 18,000 households)

2. Those in certain  unfinished housing estates (Estimated to be less than 1300 estates) :   – which will be on a list prescribed by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. (See List of  Unfinished Estates Here).

People claiming a waiver still need to register for the household charge and claim the waiver.

More about Household Charge Exemptions Here

Co-owners of propertyare jointly and severally liable for the household charge, and  payment of the charge by any one co-owner shall discharge the liability for all the co-owners. Only one of the owners needs to register.

Selling Your House : A vendor of a residential property must  pay  any household charge, late payment fee and late payment interest due on the property and give a certificate of discharge, exemption or waiver in respect of each liability date during the vendor’s ownership to a purchaser on or before the sale or transfer can be completed.

The Household Charge is just an interim measure to be put in place until a full property tax system is worked out.

The Household Charge money is supposed to be used by local authorities to help fund local services such as fire and emergency services, libraries, street cleaning, lighting, planting etc. Up until now the Exchequer has contributed to the funding of these services – but now some of the funding will be collected  through the introduction of this household charge instead.

Take a look at our Top Tips For Saving Money in 2012 – If you  follow some of these you could easily save enough to cover your Household Charge and more.