Almost 75,000 pay second home levy before deadline

ALMOST 75,000 people have paid the second home tax in advance of the deadline for payment today.

Although today is the deadline for payment, penalties of €20 a month for those who have not paid will kick in only from October 31st.

In spite of a last-minute rush by property owners to pay the new tax, payments have been received in respect of only 25 per cent of the estimated 300,000 second homes in the State.

Local authorities, which are responsible for collecting the €200 a year charge, now plan to issue warning notices to landlords and holiday home owners who are potentially liable for the tax.

To date, local authorities have collected €15 million, compared to an expected total of €40 million. All money generated will go to the local authorities where the second home was located.

Eddie Sheehy, chairman of the County and City Managers’ Association, which is co-ordinating collection of the fee on behalf of local authorities, yesterday warned that property-owners where responsible for payment in cases where they owned a house or apartment that was not their principal residence. “The message . . . is that if people are liable, they either . . . pay now or incur penalties and risk prosecution,” he said.

About 85 per cent of payments are being made online through a dedicated website, nppr.ie. The rest are being processed by local authorities.

In response to inquiries from the public, the Department of Finance has clarified that overseas owners of holiday homes in Ireland are liable for the charge. This would mean that Irish people who have retired overseas but maintain a property here will have to pay.

Mobile homes and granny flats are not liable for the tax.