Nearly 11,000 people have applied to defer their local property tax (LPT) to date in 2024.
A new update from the Revenue Commissioners shows that 10,758 people had applied to defer the tax, which is charged annually and calculated based on a property’s value, by mid-February of this year.
Meanwhile, 305,715 tax payments remain outstanding since 2013.
Local Property Tax has proven controversial at times since its introduction a decade ago in the wake of a global recession, notably given the valuations upon which it was based were not updated for nearly ten years despite housing prices having ballooned in Ireland over the same period.
To qualify for a deferment, a household’s income must be less than €18,000 for a single person and €30,000 for a couple, or less than €30,000 and €42,000 respectively for a partial deferment.
Three other qualifying categories apply in terms of hardship, personal insolvency, and someone being the personal representative of an acquaintance who has died, Revenue said.
Per Revenue’s statistics, the number of deferrals has dropped from a high of 62,000 people in 2017.
However, it said, that reduction is attributable to a number of factors, including those who have paid their deferred liability; property owners who no longer meet the qualifying criteria for a deferral; and properties that have been sold or transferred with the deferred liability factored into the transaction.
Revenue noted that deferred LPT commands a reduced interest charge of 4% per year for the years 2013 through 2021, and 3% for 2022, as compared with the 8% applicable for the late payment of the tax.
It said that to date, LPT returns have been filed and are up to date for 1.94 million properties for 2023, equating to €511m collected, equating to a payment compliance rate of some 95%.
There were some 1,965 properties for which owners claimed an exemption from the tax in 2023, the most common reason cited being that the property was undergoing “structural work”.