What is local property tax?
Local Property Tax (LPT) is a tax payable on the market value of residential property which came into effect in 2013. All owners of residential property, including rental properties, are liable to pay the tax in accordance with the table below.
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Not every Council in Ireland charges the same rate; a number of Local Authorities agreed to reductions in 2015 LPT rates ranging from 1.5% – 15%.
Rates can be paid in a single payment or spread over a year. Failure to meet LPT obligations can result in Revenue enforcing a range of collection options and, most significantly for home owners, any unpaid LPT attaches to the property and the owner will not be able to sell it without paying any LPT, interest and penalties due.
So what is due to change in 2016?
With LPT rates based on the market value of property as of 1 May 2013 and fixed until 2016, a mandatory revaluation of properties will take place in November of 2016. The tax payable for 2017 will be based on that new estimate.
Amid continuing price rises in the housing sector nationwide, concerns are now growing that homeowners could be facing an exorbitant rise in LPT rates. When the revaluation of property prices takes place in 2016, it is likely that house prices will have increased far beyond 15% of their 2013 values. This means that even the 15% maximum reduction imposed by some Councils will not cover the revaluation increases and LPT could soar uncontrollably.
What are the implications for homeowners?
The most immediate implication is that homeowners are likely to see their standard rate of LPT jump to the next band, which will mean an annual rate increase of €90, with a jump of two bands being double this amount.
Under the existing rules, current valuations are based on ‘good faith’, but what will this mean for the future? If a homeowner values their property in ‘good faith’, but sells the property later at an inflated price due to a bidding war or rising demand, will they be liable to pay the shortfall in LPT retrospectively? How can a homeowner protect themselves? What options will be available to value property on a more solid basis than ‘good faith’ and will these have further cost implications?
With so many unanswered questions, Local Property Tax is liable to become a hot potato election issue if early government intervention is not forthcoming. Aware of growing public concerns, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has commissioned a review into the Local Property Tax in the context of house price rises. The report is due to be completed this summer and the results will be considered in the context of Budget 2016.
Over the few weeks the survey was available for people to take, 138 responses were collected from both males and females with the majority of respondents being in the age range of 19-30 years (37%) or 31-50 years (41%). The current status or area of employment of those completing the survey varied greatly, with approximately one fifth including students. The majority of those who took the survey (64%) admitted to currently being involved in a sports club while within those involved more than half (55%) were participants in a sports club. Other roles included those of coach/mentor (13%), administration (6%) or parents / driver / taxi for those involved. Of those admitting to not being involved in sport, the main reasons included no interest (17%), no time (22%) and family / work commitments (29%).
Regarding opinion on female involvement in sports, the general consensus was that there is not enough involvement. While a mere 3% of survey participants thought that there was more than enough, 16% agreed that there was enough and a staggering 81% of those who completed the survey believe that there is not enough female involvement in sports.
The issue of discipline was most familiar to people at a local level (37%), while issues at national/international level (32%) and county/provincial level (29%) were also quite high. Policy issues were also significantly high at a local level (30%) whereas a large number of people (35%) indicated that they were not aware of any policy issues. It was also at a local level (39%), that the issue of child protection was most identified with very few people being familiar with situations at national/international level (7%) or at county/provincial level (9%).
The vast majority of people who undertook the survey (86%) were not aware of the Sports Law Clinic at UCC. However, while almost half of the participants (45%) indicated that they would seek the services of a Sports Law Clinic, the same number of people said they were unsure, while only 10% of survey undertakers responded with a ‘No’ to this question. Regarding contacting the clinic, message or email proved the most popular choice (49%), with a phone call being the next most popular response (32%).
The next topic addressed in the survey was that of the role of psychology for sports people. With only 10% of people indicating that psychology has a sufficient role and 2% of the opinion that the role is more than enough, the consensus was that the role of psychology for sports people should be more (61%). Similar results were expressed regarding the role of funding for sports people with 42% exclaiming it should be more and 43% saying that it is not enough.
On the issue of personal injuries that occur during sports participation, the opinions of people regarding adequate cover for aspects such as initial medical expenses, on-going rehabilitation / physiotherapy and potential loss of earnings for players were all pretty similar. In each case, the majority of survey participants (73%, 81% and 90% respectively) did not believe there was adequate cover provided for these aspects. Finally, an overwhelming 86% of people who took part in the survey have not come across any copyright issues regarding sport.
Christina B
