Revenue targets local property tax on undervalued homes

Thousands

of taxpayers who significantly undervalued their homes in property tax returns face being targeted by the

Revenue Commissioners

.

Some 140,000 people have had their salaries or pensions reduced at source for failing to pay the tax. Revenue is targeting those who assessed the price of their property at a far lower level than guide values issued when the tax was introduced in May 2013.

Almost 250,000 homeowners declared their properties were worth more than €100,000 below the guide values the Revenue Commissioners had issued. It has recently begun to analyse valuations at street level to identify properties whose valuations are out of line with those of their neighbours.

Homes mapped

Most homes registered for property tax have been geo-coded and mapped, allowing officials to profile individual houses that may be undervalued.

If the authorities believe the amount declared does not reflect the property’s market value, homeowners face paying the tax at a higher level, including years of back tax.

To date, some 7,800 property owners have voluntarily revised their property valuations upwards. In many cases, this was done before putting a home on the market.

Substantial increase

If a taxpayer sells their property, and there has been a substantial increase in value beyond the market norm, they must get clearance from Revenue that the valuation was made “honestly and reasonably”.

In Dublin, homes selling for more than 25 per cent of their declared values are required to provide evidence to substantiate their original valuation; the level is set at 15 per cent in the rest of the country.

Of more than 2,400 or so clearance applications so far, about one in five – or 450 – has been rejected. Overall figures, however, indicate the property tax has gained widespread acceptance. Some 96 per cent of homeowners have paid the tax, or ar in the process of doing so, this year.