Business
Ombudsman investigating ‘extortionate’ NPPR demand
The Office of the Ombudsman is investigating a complaint from a Galway City property owner – who has lived in the US for the past 16 years – after receiving a so-called ‘second homes tax’ bill for more than €4,200 from the City Council.
Sarah Manning has branded the Council “gangsters” and accused them of extortion for allowing her tax liability on the house build up over five years, without informing her.
The ex-pat registered her property in Knocknacarra as a rental property with the Council in 2002, but only learned of the existence of the annual €200 Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) tax when the local authority wrote to her last week, informing her of the NPPR liabilities and that a figure of €4,220 is due.
That figure will increase to €7,230 if unpaid by the end of this month (the initial amount due would be €1,000 in total, but increases due to penalties). The charge was in place from 2009 to 2013 but has been replaced by the Local Property tax.
Despite registering her details with the Council in 2002, paying tax on rental income and paying the Local Property Tax, she was never made aware of the NPPR levy.
“Galway City Council were fully aware of my whereabouts for the last 11 years, and they allowed the delinquency to amass to over 400% more than the original charge, and opted to notify me a mere two weeks before it is increased to being over 700% beyond that original charge, and threaten that if I don’t come up with the money within two weeks, it will be a lien recorded against my property until paid in full.
“Who, other than gangsters does this? This is extortion, pure and simple. Is this all some nefarious trap for the unwary to raise more money for local councils and the Irish Government by those misfortunate enough like myself to be living overseas from 2009-14 who were totally unaware that this tax was imposed and allowed go into delinquency status, accumulating interest at the rate of 10% per month, and thus slowly eating away at the equity in my property there?” Ms Manning wrote to the Ombudsman.
The Council has pointed out that since the NPPR tax is a self-assessment charge, no invoices or notices are issued.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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