The Household Charge ended on 31st December 2012 – but that wasn’t the end of it for many property owners. According to Revenue’s records – thousands of people still haven’t paid the Household Charge and the original €100 charge has now doubled to €200.
The Household Charge was only introduced as a temporary measure – to try and get some extra much needed income for the State and to start the building of a property ownership database for a full blown property tax. No one was sent a bill or a reminder – and the number of properties that have still not been registered for the Household Charge could be in the region of 250,000 . It only lasted for one year and has now been replaced by the Local Property Tax since July 2013.
If you were liable for the Household Charge on January 1st 2012 and still haven’t paid it – then you now owe €200 with the penalties and interest added on. From July 1st 2013 collection of the Household Charge was taken over by the Property Tax section of Revenue.
At the start of April 2014 – Revenue wrote to 227,000f property owners who , according to their records , have still not paid the €200 arrears. Revenue gave people 14 days to respond to these letters by logging in to to the Property Tax online system using their Property ID, PIN and PPSN. They can then make arrangements online to pay the €200 arrears or they can update their Household Charge record to confirm they are exempt or have a waiver from the charge. See full details of Household Charge Exemptions and Waivers here
There will have been some mis-matching of records between the property tax system and the Household Charge system – so it is possible that many people who have already paid the HHC will get a letter in error. Revenue are asking those people to also log in to the LPT system online and proceed to Step 1 – ‘Update your HC arrears record‘. Then select “‘Contact Revenue” . A screen titled “Add A New Enquiry” will be displayed where you should select the option ‘My Enquiry Relates To’ ‘HC Declaration’.
Then on the dropdown menu “And More Specifically” you can select the “‘Payment Already Made”‘ option. You will need to enter an ‘Email Address’ at which Revenue can contact you. If you have an electronic copy or photo of the receipt for the HH charge you can attach it here .
If you did not own the property on Jan 1st 2012 or were exempt – you shouldn’t just ignore this letter. You should write to the Local Property Tax Branch, Revenue Commissioners, PO Box 1, Limerick enclosing the Name, Address and PPSN of the previous owner of the property and any other supporting documentation such as estate agent and solicitor details within 14 days of the date of the letter.
Owners who require assistance can also contact the LPT helpline on 1890 200 255. )
(Or 01 7023049) Be prepared for a possible long wait . Watch out for the call charges on those 1890 numbers !
Revenue have said that if no payment or response is made – then they may enforce collection from wages or occupational pensions.
More about Local Property Tax Here
More about the Household Charge here