Paschal Donohue, Minister of Finance, has indicated that there will be no change to the Local Property Tax (LPT) rates until the start of 2020, but what then?
LPT came into effect in 2013; this is a self-assessed tax that the homeowner calculates based on the estimated value of their property. Revenue set a number of valuation bands and depending on what value your property falls under defines the tax amount that you pay.
The LPT is based on the value of your property on the liability date of the 1st May 2013 and the current valuation period runs until the 31st December 2019.
It would be expected that most properties would have a higher valuation and hence a higher tax rate if valued at today’s market price.
The minister has indicated that the current system will be reviewed but added that he is in favour of the LPT being retained as it funds Local Authorities. He added that he does not want to see “sudden changes which could cause difficulty for people” but wanted “moderate, affordable and certain charges”.
We wait in anticipation but one expects increases as opposed to the alternative!