How are you going to pay your property tax? Revenue needs to know by this Saturday

While a big change to how property tax is levied - and how much it will cost - may be on the way over the coming year or so, for now, it’s busiess as usual for those looking to rectify their bill for 2018.

This year the “chargeable” date is November 1st, which means that if you own a property in Ireland as of this date, you will be liable to pay property tax for the following year. If you sell your residential property after this date, you will still be liable to pay LPT on the property for 2018, even if it is sold before the end of 2017.

But has your bill changed this year? And do you need to do anything different to settle your bill this year?

Do I need to do anything?

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Only if you wish to change how you pay your bill. If you do, you need to contact the Revenue to tell them of your intentions by this Saturday, November 25th.

If you pay the tax by direct debit for example, you won’t hear from Revenue, unless your local council voted to change your tax rate. Instead, this method of payment will automatically apply for 2018 – unless you wish to change it, which means that you need to notify the Revenue by this Saturday.

If you usually pay your bill in a lump sum (ie single debit authority, debit card, credit card, cash, cheque or postal order), you must submit your payment by January 10th 2018. If you opt to pay via a “single debit authority”, via your bank account, Revenue won’t deduct the money from your account until March 21st, 2018. If you typically pay by monthly direct debit, these payments will commence on January 15th 2018.

You may already have received a letter from Revenue by now, outlining your options, and any adjustments to the amount you owe. You can confirm your payment method online here, or by contacting the LPT helpline at 1890 200 255.

Has my bill gone up or down?

This very much depends on where you live. While some councils have voted to increase the basic rate of LPT for 2017, others have voted to maintain, or reduce it.

Overall, seven counties have voted to increase the rate above the basic rate for 2018: Laois (+10%); Tipperary (+10%);Wexford (+10%); Limerick (+7.5%); Longford (+5%); Kerry (+5%); Waterford (+2.5%). This will bring in additional revenue of some €5 million combined for these counties.

Four have opted to decrease it - and they’re all in Dublin: Dublin City (-15%); Dún Laoghaire Rathdown (-15%); Fingal (-10%); and South Dublin(-15%). This will see these four councils’ combined revenue reduce by €28 million, compared to what they could have brought in if they had charged the standard rate.

However, just because your council may have voted for a reduction this year, doesn’t mean your bill will fall. Consider residents of Fingal. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the council opted to cut home owners bills by the full 15 per cent; this yar however, on the back of grwoing demand on its services, it has opted to cut it by just 10 per cent, a move which will bring in an extra €1.9 million for the council, accordig to Public Policy.

Conversely, residents of Limerick city and county will actually see their bill fall for 2018, as the council voted in an increase of 7.5 per cent, rather than the 10 per cent that had previously applied.

This means that someone living in Limerick, who paid tax of € 445 on their house valued in the € 200,000-€ 250,000 range last year, will have to pay €435 in 2017. If they had been living in Dublin city however, their bill would be just € 344.

I didn’t pay the tax last year – am I still exempt?

If your property was exempt from property tax up until now – maybe because you bought it in 2013, or it was in a ghost estate, it’s likely that it will continue to be exempt until the end of the current valuation period (October 31st 2019), even where the property is sold or ownership is transferred by way of gift or an inheritance. This means that no tax on these properties will be due for 2018.