Up to 15,000 city homes to pay €200 second homes levy

Date Published: 21-Mar-2011

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

Galway City Council has warned homeowners that the annual €200 ‘second homes’ levy is due after the end of this month.

The ‘liability date’ for the Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) tax is March 31 – the payment must then be made before June 30, or penalties of €20 per month apply.

To date, around 11,000 homes in Galway City have been registered – last year, it generated just over €2.4 million, up from €2.15m the previous year.

A spokesperson for the City Council said that because the payment of the levy is on a ‘self-assessment’ basis, there is no definitive figure available for the number of properties in the city that are liable to the charge.“

The NPPR charge is a self-assessment charge and liable properties include rented properties, holiday homes, inheritances and vacant properties, subject to certain exemptions. The charge also applies to people who only own one property but are not living in it as their Principal Private Residence.

“Therefore, it is difficult to quantify the number of properties and/or owners due to a lack of information databases/sources. In addition to the lack of available information, is the added difficulty of a property having multiple owners and conversely, an owner having multiple properties,” the spokesperson said.

While 11,000 have been registered in the city to date, the Sentinel understands there could be up to 15,000 properties which are liable.

Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel