What Happens if I am Late Paying the Household Charge

The liability  date for the Household Charge 2012 is January 1st  2012 – but households have been given three months to pay before Late payment penalties apply . No penalty charges will apply if payments were  made by 31st March 2012.
(Officially it  is an  offence not to have registered and paid by 31st March)

What are the Penalties for late Payment ?

For payments made between  1st April 2012 and 30th September 2012  the penalty is  10% of the amount outstanding (i.e €10 )

For payments made between 1st October  2012 and 31st March 2103  the penalty will be  20 % of the amount outstanding;  ie.  €20

For payments made on or after 1st  April January 2013 – the penalty will be  30 % of the amount outstanding. (ie  €30)

There is also a Late payment interest of 1% per month or part month that applies to any unpaid household charge amounts. (That is €1 per month)

So – someone paying the household charge in April will be expected to pay €100 plus a  €10 late payment fee plus 1% interest of €1  –  grand total of €111 .
The online system should work these out automatically – but people paying by post will be expected to add these on themselves !

So – if someone doesn’t pay the 2012  €100 household charge  until April 2013 – they will owe €100 plus €30 penalty fee  plus a €13 interest – a total of €143.

If household charges remain unpaid the legislation states that a charge will remain attached to the property.

Non Registration or Non Payment Offences  – the Household Charge legislation states that anyone who fails to register their liability or pay the charge  by 31st March 2012 will be guilty  of an offence. If convicted of the offence – they will be liable to a fine (Max €2500).
Anyone claiming a waiver because of unfinished estates or mortgage interest supplement also need to register before 31st March.

 

More articles about Household Charge

17 thoughts on “What Happens if I am Late Paying the Household Charge

  1. I am in the middle of selling a house what will happen then when the sale goes through if I pay the house hold charge before the 31st and the new owner pays the charge, will I be entitled to refund?

  2. The government are saying what’s all the fuss about sure it’s only €2 per week, then why the hell can’t we pay them the €2 per week via DD instead of this lum sum of €100.

  3. hi, my house still on morgage do i have to register and pay the charge or if i owe a property paid off the bank do i have to pay the charge?

    • Chris – even if you have a mortgage you own the house and are liable for the charge.

  4. I never claimed mortgage supplement from the welfare while been unemployed all this time. So am i exempt from paying as i am unemployed. Also having paid money to the council when building a house for “services ” which are non existen should this not come into account. I am confused as one minute it is a government tax next thing we are told it Will be the local council who have to mop up this mess. If the government can be clear what this tax for i have no problem paying and as long as what i have already prepaid is taken into account. Also i believe by registering for this tax you are by default registering for the septic tank to now that the government are been dictorial regarding data sharing.

  5. I don’t live in Ireland anymore – emigrated in 2000 for lots of reasons. But I still own a very small apartment that I rent out. If I fail to pay by 31 March, can I claim that I was not informed of the charge so am not liable? Assuming I am liable and am charged interest and penalties thereafter, I understand that the charge will be attached to the property till I sell. But will I be guilty of an offence? I was not resident in the state when the offence was introduced and am not resident at the time the “offence” was committed? Can the fine be imposed?

  6. I,m confused!

    First there is a list of penalties with percentages added on to the 100€. Then the last part states that if you fail to registar or pay, then you are liable for a 2500€ fine.

    So which is it? When does this 2500 kick in

    • You have to be prosecuted and convicted in court to receive the 2500 euro fine

  7. I returned home to Ireland in the BOOM and had to pay an
    astroanomical price for my HOME. As a result, my husband and I are stuck with a large mortgage and we have a son going to College-expensive but necessary for him to complete in todays work-place. We also have another 2 sons one of whom will be going to college in a couple of years. My husband and I have never claimed dole and have ALWAYS paid our taxes. The people who can off-shore accounts have now and always avoided paying their taxes. The government have NOT even bothered to catch up with them but instead persist on BLEEDING us working class dry. Why? We are finding it so difficult even to buy food and the necessities of life. Who will speak for us working-class.
    Not you in Power. If this Household Charge is for local services what happens to the other monies collected from taxes etc. – Does that go into the pockets of politians? Enough is enough!

  8. The people of Ireland should have stood together on this issue and refused to pay. Instead they have given in to scare tactics and threats and yet again have given in while the likes of Bertie Ahern, Seanie Fitzpatrick and Fingleton are running around Scot Free…the name SCOT FREE should be renamed Irish Free…sick to my stomach!!

    • around 50% had not paid by the deadline according to the government, fudging the figures to make it look like over 50% had paid.They are also saying only 1.6 million households are liable while in fact the figure is closer to 1.8 million. Therefore alot less than 50% of people liable had paid by the deadline of 31st march, A great victory for the no campaign.As the majority of the people have not paid by the deadline this Household Charge is now not valid under democractic rules and must immediately be withdrawn by the government, or else we are no longer living in a Democracy

  9. Im sickened by it too. i paid it because i know that they have little income now from VAT and stamp duty and need to make it up somewhere. It all boils down to the economies of scale. If you want to live on an exclusive island you pay the price.

  10. Never gonna pay. Simples. Why pay so that a max of 128 million can be collected. It MUST be raise next year to have any effect on the economy. It’s the beginning of the large charge for owining a house. While all the time, BILLIONS are being paid to mgamblers who speculated here, and lost their money, but still want it back, and not take the hit

  11. @Marcus, out is my understanding that the government are planning to introduce a maximum fine of €2500 for non-registration. This is not an automatic fine and would involve being brought to court. This is not going to apply to everyone who has not registered, obviously,
    and would then be up to a judge to decide to throw the book at you. Ifyou draw the short straw, there is support, legal and social, available from the anti-tax campaign. It is another threat tactic

  12. Bought a house in Roscommon, (during boom) mainly because of a hospital and school nearby. lovely bonus of a new pub nearby too. that was 5 years ago. Now !! Hospital is all but closed. school will now close because of new pupil teacher ratio and pub shut because nobody can afford a social drink.
    what am I paying 100 Euro for. I really need to know!
    Neg equity home just about to afford and if I lose my job I am screwed big time! i can understand what the pensioner in Greece was thinking God bless him… rant over.

    • you should employ goverment building inspecters with some of this money collected, Then we wouldn’t have so many rogue builders that break building regulations and leave half built houses after being paid for them

      • I agree Margaret – Council inspections of buildings is very lax. (PS – you do realise that this website is nothing to do with the government ?)

Comments are closed.