1st June 2012

The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009 introduced a €200 annual charge on non principal private residences, payable by the owners to the local authority in whose area the property concerned is located. Liability for 2012 is assessed on the owner at 31st March 2012 (‘liability date’), with the due date of payment being 30th June.

There is no escape from the property tax:
• Revenue have access to ESB records and the Private Residential Tenancies Board records to compile a list of landlords assessable
•There is a fine for late payment of the tax – the charge increases by €20 monthly if not paid by 30th June. Unpaid 2009 charges have been accumulating at €20 monthly since 1st November 2009. In the event that you wish to sell your house at a later date, the purchaser will become liable to any outstanding levies on the house, and therefore may cause difficulties at this stage.

Payment can be made online or by cheque/draft/postal order.

To pay online click here

To download paper copy form (new customers) click here

To download paper copy form (renewals only) click here

For further information see the FAQ page here or feel free to give us a call.

6th January 2012

Revenue have been involved in an exchange of information exercise with the Department of Social Protection, which this week resulted in Revenue stating that 115,000 pensioners will pay extra tax in 2012. It is important to note that no change in tax law has occurred as a result of this initiative, rather due to technological advances the Revenue Commissioners are able to integrate information received from the Department of Social Protection into tax credit certificates from 2012.

It is important to distinguish between the self-assessed and the PAYE worker in this scenario.

Self-Assessed persons are obliged to complete an income tax return annually as they have significant non-PAYE income, e.g. trade or rental income. On an income tax return you are obliged to complete and have assessed all your income sources, not just your self-employed income. Therefore, you should be recording all your pension income on the form to ensure it is being taxed correctly.

PAYE Workers are not obliged to complete an income tax return each year as their income tax is deducted at source. For occupational pensions, the administrators of the fund are obliged to operate any pension payments through the payroll. However, in a lot of cases they would be issued with a tax deduction certificate for the recipient stating income up to €18,000 is tax exempt in 2011/2012 for a single individual, and up to €36,000 for a married couple.

Comparing this to the state pensions (Contributory Pension, Transitional Pension, Widows Pension, Invalidity Pension), these are liable to tax in the same way as occupational pensions, but due to the easing of the administrative burden, tax was never deducted at source on these pensions. An administrative burden would arise as the vast majority of such recipients would be under the threshold to be tax exempt, and therefore large refunds would be issued at the end of the tax year to repay the recipient for tax deducted at source. Such a position relies on the taxpayer being aware of whether their have any tax liability on their total income, and the need to inform the Revenue Commissioners of the amount of their state pension. The complexity of the tax system means that professional advice is often needed, not something which is often available to PAYE workers.

In order to ensure that the state pensions are appropriately taxed, the occupational pension administrators are advised of how much they must reduce the tax exempt limit of the recipient. Previously this was not done automatically by Revenue, which resulted in underpayments by certain tax payers. This is corrected for the tax year 2012 onwards, but arrears may be due for previous years in some cases.

Should you have any queries on this do not hesitate to contact us.