The Household Charge

Introduced by the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 the Household Charge is an annual charge payable by the owners of residential properties. The onus is on the property owner to register and pay the charge, and payment must be made by 31 March 2012. The charge was introduced as a result of the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland. Ireland are one of the last countries in Europe to introduce a property based tax to fund local services.

Currently the Household Charge is set at €100 per annum, this however is set to change in coming years. In the future it is likely that the Household Charge will be calculated as a percentage of property value. The Household Charge can be paid in four ways: 

1. By logging on to www.householdcharge.ie. The payment can be made by credit or debit card through this site.
2. By post sending a cheque, postal order or bank draft made payable to the Local Government Management Agency to The Household Charge, PO Box 12168, Dublin 1. This option must be accompanied with a form with personal details and address filled out.
3. In person at local authority offices.
4. In instalments, however to opt for this the property owner must register by 1 March 2012.

The Household Charge also applies to properties already subject to the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) charge of €200 per annum. The charge is also applicable to each unit within a building that is sub divided into dwellings.

Exemption

The following properties are exempt from payment of the Household Charge:

• Trading stock of a business and have not been sold or been the source of any income since construction
• Owned by government departments or the Health Service Executive
• Owned by local authorities or voluntary housing bodies (including dwellings not yet fully bought from a local authority under the shared ownership scheme)
• Liable for commercial rates
• In a discretionary trust or owned by an approved charity.
• Vacant due to long-term mental illness or physical infirmity of the owners
• Where the owner is entitled to Mortgage Interest Supplement at 1 January 2012
• Properties within certain unfinished housing estates. Qualifying estates are published on the Household Charge website.