Coalition at odds over card payments for property tax

The Coalition parties remain at odds ahead of today’s Cabinet meeting over how to resolve the controversy surrounding the requirement for early payment of the 2014 property tax by people using credit or debit cards.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan met the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners Josephine Feehily last night.

He said the meeting was intended to agree on how best to clear up the confusion caused to householders.

Mr Noonan and his Fine Gael colleagues have remained adamant there is no question of the deadline for payment by credit and debit cards being changed from November this year. They have made it clear that if people do not want to pay until 2014, they should use one of the alternative payment methods.

Labour Ministers, including Eamon Gilmore, have indicated the problem runs deeper than communications. The Tánaiste has said no taxpayer should be asked to pay a 2014 tax in 2013. Labour Ministers have asked Revenue to revisit the issue, indicating their preference to see the payment date moved to the new year.

The possibility of extending the deadline is also likely to be explored when Ms Feehily appears before the Oireachtas finance committee on Thursday.

The deadline for homeowners to indicate their payment method is November 27th. If they choose to pay by credit or debit card, Revenue has said it must take the payment immediately because it cannot retain card details on account of data protection laws.

This early payment requirement has led to widespread protests from householders, the majority of whom (53 per cent, or more than 800,000 people) used credit and debit cards to pay their 2013 property tax.