The deadline of May 7th for the return of the Property Tax LPT forms is approaching fast. The deadline for online returns though  is May 28th – so the Revenue are not going to be doing anything about chasing late returns until after May 28th.

With around one third of home owners still  not registered for the  Household Charge -  (See Here)  – there will probably be many thousands of property owners hoping they will get also away with not paying the Property Tax too. It may not  be as easy this time -  if Revenue do as they promise.
You can see a list of the Property Tax Bands and Amounts here  and more information about Valuation for Property Tax here

Property Tax Penalties

There are penalties that Revenue can apply – but they will not be applied automatically – Revenue say they will attempt to contact the liable person first.

A penalty equal to the amount of  Local Property Tax that would have been  payable (capped at  €3,000) may be imposed in the following cases.

a) If a  liable person fails to send back  (or electronically  file)  a property tax return. (The legislation does not mention penalties for late returns)

b) If an incomplete return is sent and the person  fails to supply the missing information within a reasonable time of being requested to do so.

c) If a false return is filled in

So - if someone declares the value of their house to be in band 1 (€90 a year) when it should be in band 5 (€495 a year) – and they get caught out  – the penalty would be €495 .
The penalty cap of €3000 benefits those in more expensive homes- for example : If someone who has a house worth €4 Million declares it to be worth only €1 million. If they get caught – their correct full years property tax will be €9300 but their penalty will be just €3000.

A penalty of €100 a day (max €3000) may be applied to any relevant person or company that doesn’t supply information requested by Revenue ( Information such as the owners name, property size, etc). This is aimed at companies and organisations like An Post, ESB , Bord Gais , HSE  etc . Not individual homeowners.

Late Payment Penalty
Interest will be charged on late payment of the  property tax.  The rate of interest will be 0.0219% a day i.e. 8% per year . More about Paying the Property Tax Here

No court case is needed to apply these  penalties.  Where a penalty is imposed, it will be  treated as an amount of outstanding Local Property Tax and may be recovered in the same manner as the tax.
While the Revenue Commissioners may choose to recover the amount of any penalty by means of court proceedings, they are not restricted to this method of recovery.

Any Local Property Tax or penalty that remains unpaid will become a charge on the property to which it relates and will have to be discharged to the Revenue Commissioners on the sale or transfer of the property.

Penalties on Employers
The Property Tax can be deducted at source from wages – but if employers don’t deduct amounts as instructed or don’t keep records of deductions – they may face a €3000 penalty.

More information about the Property Tax here