The big talk on everyone’s lips at present is in relation to the new property tax.
Letters for the new tax started being sent out by the Revenue Commissioners at the start of this week with the estimated 1.6m householders liable for the new charge expected to receive one inside the next three weeks.
The new charge has certainly caused some confusion though, most notably in relation to what each person is expected to pay.
Last weekend the Revenue Commissioners launched their valuation guide, which is based on the average price of certain types of houses in each electoral area of the country.
This has led to great frustration though as many people with smaller homes in particular areas are seeing their neighbours with bigger homes getting away with falling into the same valuation band as them.
In yesterday’s Irish Times, Conor Pope offered a few examples of homes that were falling through the loophole.
One was 38 Brighton Road in Rathgar, Dublin 6, which sold for €1.1m in September 2011, which means it should be liable to a property tax of €2,005. However, according to the Revenue’s valuation for the area, it is valued between €500,000 and €550,000, making it liable for a tax of €945 – more than half of what you’d expect that homeowner to pay.
Of course, this guide is very rough and even MyHome’s Property Tax Estimator, which we feel is more thorough and accurate, cannot guarantee an exact valuation for your home. The only way to ensure that is to get a valuation from an estate agent but it would probably not be feasible for 1.6 million homes to be valued between now and the deadline for the return of documents in May.
Today we ask for your opinion on the property tax...
- Are you confident you know the true value of your property?
- Do valuation guides over or undervalue your home?
- Do you feel the entire process is fair?
Have your say in our comments section below…
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