FAQ

Your Questions Answered

Full legal FAQ

Who is liable for the “Local Property Tax”?

The owner of almost every residential property. Exemptions are similar to those under the household tax.

How will the Revenue Commissioners know who the owner is?

Revenue will use the data from the household tax and various other sources. In March they will send out a notice to all people they believe to be liable.

How much is the Property Tax?

0.18% of the value up to €1million. Homes will be divided into “market value bands” of €50,000 e.g. €150,001-€200,000. The tax due will be calculated on the mid-point of the band your home falls into.

How is the value of my home assessed?

The notice from the Revenue will contain an estimate of the value of your home. You can either accept that valuation or give your own assessment based on guidelines provided by Revenue.

What happens if I don’t return the form?

Revenue will presume their estimate of your home’s value to be correct and can proceed to deduct the tax directly from your wages/social welfare/pension/farm payments etc.

What should I do with the Revenue notice?

Do nothing, boycott the registration process and refuse to comply. If hundreds of thousands of people do likewise, it will create a political crisis for the government. This can be an important rock upon which massive political pressure and possible industrial action can be built to force the government to scrap this tax.

What are the penalties?

If you do not return the form you could be levied with a penalty equal to the value of the property tax you are liable for

I’m self-employed. Are there any implications for getting tax clearance cert?

Revenue won’t issue a tax clearance cert to anyone who doesn’t comply. Self- employed people may also incur a surcharge up to the amount of your property tax liability.

Can I defer payment?

Yes, but only if your family income falls below a certain level. The criteria for a deferral are extremely narrow. Deferred payments are subject to an interest charge of 4% per annum.

What about my unpaid household tax from last year?

Unpaid household tax will be capped at €130 if paid before 30th April. If not paid by 1st July, it will be increased to €200 and added to your property tax.

Is it a criminal offence to boycott the registration of the property tax?

No. The majority of single home owners defied legal threats and forced the government back on the household tax. Now, instead of a criminal offence, they want to take it from our wages. If we stick together, this threat can also be beaten.

The government have given the Revenue Commissioners draconian powers to collect this tax. It is only by a campaign of massive political protest that they can be beaten.

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I have received a warning letter. What should I do?

Don’t respond. Don’t register. The government has instructed councils to send warning / ‘enforcement’ letters to hundreds of thousands of non-payers of the home tax. They want to try break the biggest boycott campaign in this country for over a century.

Am I on my own?

No. Based on figures from the 2011 census and verified by Prof. Rob Kitchin at the Department of Geography, NUI Maynooth, 1.45m families were due to register 1.8 million houses. The government claim over 900k houses registered, but in fact over a third of these were registered by landlords etc registering multiple properties. Only 700k people have registered, with over 750k (52%) families boycotting (more info).

How did they get my name ?

The authorities are using data from the NPPR (if you own a second home) or from ESB or Dept of Social Protection. But none of this proves you are the homeowner.

Why is it so important not to register?

The government currently does not have a central database of homeowners to allow them to levy the property tax and water tax. Registering for the household tax identifies homeowners and acknowledges liability. So, don’t register.

Can I now be taken to court?

This letter is NOT a summons. Only a small minority can be summonsed at a time given packed court schedules. The letter is designed to panic people into registering.

What if I’m summonsed?

If you are unlucky enough to be one of the few to get a summons in the future, contact the campaign immediately at 1890 98 98 00. Legal advice and support will be available to anyone summonsed. No-one will have to go to court alone.

What are the potential punishments for not registering?

There are no automatic fines without taking you to court for non-registration. You cannot be jailed for refusing to pay/register. Non-registration is an ‘offence’ not to register for the tax, in much the same way as not paying your TV licence is an offence. It is not the type of conviction which prevents travel or Visas. Similarly, it does not affect your tax clearance certificate.

If taken to court and if found guilty, a judge has the power to impose a Class C fine to a maximum of €2,500. There is currently no law allowing this to be taken from your income or social welfare.

What will the CAHWT do about court cases?

No-one will go to court alone. All non-payers will have legal advice and support from the Campaign. We are not going to defeat this tax through the courts, but we will use court cases to challenge any aspects of the legislation that we can, with the objective of clogging up the court system. So when the first cases are taken they will be vigorously defended and accompanied by mass protests.

Any successful legal challenges will make the government re-think their strategy. But it is ultimately the power of protest that will force abolition of the tax. Mass meetings would be organised and huge community pressure put on the politicians standing over household tax prosecutions. As things develop, if we find that we are making the same legal case in all courts, it may not be necessary to have solicitors at every case. Campaign volunteers will be briefed on the legal points and will accompany those summonsed to court.

Should I just sit tight and ignore these letters, then?

Don’t register, but don’t sit on the sidelines. Get involved. United action by thousands of residents in a campaign of people power is the only way the household tax can be defeated. Building strong local Campaigns with large numbers of volunteers to leaflet, fundraise, organise meetings, phone trees and support for each other is vital.

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About the Campaign

The Campaign Against the Household Tax is currently a precursor coalition of political and community activists, including trade unionists, tenants association organisers, TDs, and others come together around a common programme of building a mass non-payment campaign to defeat the new unfair and regressive taxes being imposed on us by the government in order to pay for the bank bailouts. The campaign's aim is to facilitate the setting up of local neighbourhood groups organising for non-payment and for the bottom-up creation of regional and city federations of local groups and a national federation on a democratic, participatory basis.

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