Irish second home owners pay €180 million in taxes
Irish second home owners pay €180 million in taxes
Owners of second homes and residential investment properties in the Republic of Ireland have paid a cumulative amount of €180 million in additional charges since the Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) levy was introduced in 2009, according to Irish news website Independent.ie.
The €200 NPPR annual charge, which applies to any property that is not classified as a primary residence, has been imposed on more than 320,000 properties including
holiday homes in Ireland. It was due to be paid via the online system by 30 June.
Failure to meet this deadline not only incurs a penalty of €20 per month for late payments, but can lead to hefty fines of up to €2000 and, in more serious cases, court proceedings.
When added to the new charge from the Department of Environment that is scheduled to be introduced next year, the total sum of the charges on second homes in Ireland could be as much as €500 per property per year.
Since its introduction in 2009, the NPPR charge has collected €183.5 million for local authorities to invest in the provision of essential services - an average of €68 million per year. This is an astounding 70 per cent more than expected.
Authorities have been granted permission from the government to perform various checks on properties to ensure that owners of second homes are indeed paying their dues. Such checks include the levels of energy consumption via utility bills, the electoral register and land registry records.
From payments that were made at the end of last month, the department has been able to deduce that 18.18% of second homes in the Republic are located in Dublin city - an impressive 43,397.
Property owners are expected to judge for themselves whether or not they are liable to pay. The only non-primary residences that are exempt from the €200 charge are those that are leased to local authority tenants under the rental accommodation scheme.
This story was brought to you by
Holiday Lettings.
6 July 2011
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