Over half of homes valued below €150,000 for property tax

More than half of Ireland’s homeowners have told the Revenue Commissioners their house or apartment is worth less than €150,000 for the purposes of the local property tax.

The latest property tax statistics show 24.9 per cent of people said their property was valued at less than €100,000 while 28.6 per cent said their property was worth between €100,001 and €150,000.

Just 0.2 per cent of the population said their property was worth more than €1 million.

There are in excess of 25,000 claims for exemption from returned property tax assessments, with over 1,000 property owners seeking exemption due to pyrite damages.

Louth and Donegal have the lowest compliance rates at 84 per cent, while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in South Co Dublin has the highest compliance rate at 92 per cent.

The statistics show more than €200 million has been collected by the end of September, with the overall property tax compliance rate now at 90 per cent.

In a further breakdown of the property tax regime, the Revenue also gave details on exemptions. Some 4.7 per cent of homes have been classed as pyrite damaged; 4.3 per cent are owned by a person who is severely incapacitated; 16.1 per cent are classed as being in ghost estates; and another 17.1 per cent are lying empty after a developer failed to get a buyer.

Another 15 per cent are classed as long-term illness and 0.1 per cent are diplomatic buildings. Most people who have paid the tax have used a credit or debit card while almost one third paid by cheque, or an equivalent.