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Distressed homeowners will not get a property tax break after most councils voted to maintain or increase existing rates.
even the municipalities are raising the rate, while only two are reducing it.
The other 22 maintain their current rate which, in most cases, was already high after having increased last year.
Property tax bills are due in January, and with little prospect of economic recovery by then, many households are likely to struggle finding the money to pay.
Starting in January, 12 counties will enforce the maximum allowable rate, which is 15% higher than the national base rate.
Ten will charge rates 5% to 10% higher than the base rate and six have agreed to impose the base rate.
The councilors of only three councils voted for rates below the base rate.
The maximum discount allowed is 15 percent, which will be applied on two tips while one has opted for a 10 percent discount.
There will be dismay in many households that will not get a tax break during a period of recession-level unemployment and job uncertainty.
But many council officials are just as unhappy with the outcome, as nearly every county asked elected members to vote for raises.
They said increases were needed to help shore up revenue from lost business fees from companies affected by Covid-19 and rising costs of responding to the pandemic.
Now they warn they will have a hard time keeping services running at full speed next year.
The Department of Housing and Local Government is providing funds to make up part of the shortfall from the fee waiver, but has not promised more.
Challenges
In a statement it said: “The Department is collaborating with representatives of the local government sector and the Department of Reform and Public Expenditure on the financial challenges faced by local authorities as a direct consequence of the pandemic, both in terms of additional costs incurred as part local government response and decreases in revenue streams from local authorities.
“These matters are under active consideration in the context of the 2021 Budget.”
The amounts owed by homeowners vary widely, as the tax is a proportion of the property’s value, and prices vary widely across the country.
The values are divided into 20 different bands with a minimum base rate of € 90 for a property valued at up to € 100,000.
A house valued at € 250,000- € 300,000 attracts a tax bill of € 495 for the year at the base rate, while a house valued at € 500,000- € 550,000 costs € 945.
The property value as of mid-2013 is still used to calculate the tax.
Plans to update valuations to account for rising property prices have been postponed twice.
The latest postponement, until November 2021, also prolongs an anomaly that allows around 60,000 homeowners to avoid payment.
These have benefited from introductory exemptions for first-time buyers, new home buyers, homebuilders, and other groups.
Last year a total of 473 million euros was collected in property taxes and that seems to be repeating this year with 245 million euros collected until the end of July.
Commissioners of Revenue have received 47,000 requests for deferral of payments, mainly when homeowners fall below an income threshold.
The total number of deferrals last year was 50,000.
Revenue said the situation was being monitored to ensure that homeowners did not suffer undue hardship from having to pay their property taxes during this difficult time.
“The proceeds will be related to homeowners who may be affected and they are doing their best to help those who are having difficulty making payment,” they said.
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