Fifty-six people valued their homes above €5 million for the purposes of the property tax last year, making them liable for an annual tax bill of at least €11,800 each.
New figures provided to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee outline the most expensive homes in the State, according to returns filed for the Local Property Tax (LPT).
However, a regional breakdown of where the homes are located is not available from the Revenue Commissioners.
The PAC asked for details of “the top 10 highest payments for property tax in 2013 including the highest payment for one single property [and] the number of properties listed over €5 million and above”.
In response, Revenue Commissioners chairwoman Josephine Feehily said: “Fifty-six properties have a self-assessed valuation of €5 million or more as at the valuation date of May 1st, 2013.”
However, the Revenue declined to provide details on the most valuable house in the country, or even a top 10.
“The highest payment for a single property is treated as confidential as it could be used to identify the taxpayer concerned,” Ms Feehily said in her response.
‘Mansion tax’
Any homes valued at €1 million or above fall into the so-called mansion tax category.
Although the rate of tax for any property valued below €1 million is 0.18 per cent of its value, homeowners with more expensive properties pay more.
The tax is levied at 0.18 per cent on the value up to €1 million, with any additional value taxed at 0.25 per cent. A house valued at €5 million would face an annual property tax bill of €11,800.
A regional breakdown of where the 56 properties are located is not available from the Revenue. It is also not known how many of the owners of the €5 million-plus properties provided their own valuations, or followed the indicative values given to them by the Revenue.
Separate recent statistics from the Revenue show that, as of February 18th, some 3,200 residential properties across the State were valued at €1 million or more for property tax returns.
The percentage of homes valued above €1 million is 0.2 per cent of the total, with the vast majority – some 96.7 per cent – valued below €500,000.
Source: The Irish Times
