65 per cent of almost a million households have completed property tax returns

On the eve of tomorrow’s property tax filing deadline, some 65 per cent of almost a million households that received letters from Revenue last month have completed their returns.

Revenue yesterday confirmed that more than 600,000 returns have been filed to date of the 960,000 properties contacted by Revenue at the end of October. An additional half million taxpayers selected either salary deduction or direct debit last year, bringing the number of completed returns to almost 1.1 million.

The final deadline for online returns is tomorrow.

A spokeswoman for Revenue said last night that it was in line with the normal filing trends. “From our experience, people generally leave filing until close to the deadline,” she said.

Separately, Revenue also said it was aware of fraudulent emails and text messages purporting to come from the Revenue. The emails state that small overpayments of tax have been made and the taxpayer is entitled to a rebate. The messages contain links to a website that seeks personal data from the taxpayer.

“These emails and texts did not issue from Revenue. They in no way involve our systems and security. These ‘phishing’ scams have become common of late with banks and other organisations like ourselves being used to attempt to defraud innocent people.

“Revenue never send emails requiring customers to send personal information via email, pop-up windows or unsolicited text messages,” said the spokeswoman. She said Revenue’s advice for customers who have sent information is to contact their bank or financial institution immediately.