Revenue says more than one million local property tax returns had been filed by residential property owners by Tuesday afternoon.
The deadline for telling the tax authority what your property is worth, and how you are going to pay the tax next year, is this Friday.
Revenue said in the past few days there had been high levels of filing activity from large scale multi-property owners, such as local authorities and approved housing bodies with more than 200,000 properties registered to them.
Owners had to self-assess the value of their property as of last Saturday.
At the end of last week, just over half a million property tax returns had been made. But there has been a notable pick-up in filings this week.
More than one million property tax returns have been filed in the last week. Photo: stock image
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Tuesday, November 4
Local property tax (LPT) is due on two million properties in the State.
Katie Clair, manager of the property tax division in Revenue, said: “As is the case with all significant filing deadlines, we are seeing increased activity within the LPT portal as we approach the filing deadline this Friday, November 7.”
She said the number of returns filed to date has almost doubled since last Wednesday.
Yesterday, the number of returns filed peaked at almost 80,000.
“We expect daily filing rates to increase over the remainder of this week and we will continue to monitor the functionality of the LPT system during this time.” Ms Clair said.
Some homeowners have reported problems with the LPT portal.
Ms Claire said the quickest and easiest way to file an LPT return was through the LPT portal and the process usually took less than 10 minutes.
“Yesterday morning, over 35,800 people logged into the LPT portal, and 35,300 of them successfully completed and submitted their return in one single session,” the Revenue boss said.
A surge in the value of homes since the last property tax valuation has triggered fears among households that their property tax bills will shoot up, according to Tommy Walsh, tax partner at Orbitus.
A large number of local authorities have used the discretion afforded to them to increase the charge in their area by the maximum 15pc.
Residential property values have jumped by 36pc since the last valuation exercise for the property tax four years ago.
Revenue said the new valuations would apply for the Local Property Tax from next year. The tax is a self-assessment charge.
Revenue warned property owners that the valuation they can get for their home on its website is a guide only.
Owners should consider their property’s features and condition, and use additional information sources where needed, to determine the most accurate valuation, the tax authority said.
Revenue has said there are various payment options. Owners can pay in full, by credit or debit card or cash through a payment service provider, such as An Post or Payzone.
The deadline for those who choose this payment deadline is Friday, January 9, next.
Monthly direct debits will have the first payment processed from Thursday, January 15 next.
Deduction at source, from salary, wages or occupational pension, will start to be processed in January.
