Annual €100 Household Charge - Mazars - Ireland

The Household Charge is an annual charge introduced by the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 which is payable by owners of residential property. The household charge is an interim measure pending the introduction of a full property tax.

The Household Charge is €100 per residential property situated in the State.  The household charge is payable by the owner of the building in respect of each unit of residential accommodation. Where a building is divided into a number of flats or bedsits, the charge applies to each flat or bedsit.

An online system - www.householdcharge.ie - is in place to enable home owners to pay the household charge by credit card/debit card. In addition, home owners can make the payment by cheque, postal order, etc.

Owners of residential property on the liability date of 1st January 2012, subject to a limited number of exemptions and waivers set out below, are liable to pay the household charge by 31st March 2012. The charge can also be paid in four instalments of €25 by Direct Debit on 13^th March, 14^th May, 13^th July and 10^th September.

The exemptions are as follows:

• Residential properties that are part of the trading stock of a business and have not been sold or been the source of any income since construction,
• Residential property vested in a Minister of the Government or the Health Service Executive,
• Residential property vested in a housing authority, including property where households are purchasing their homes under the Shared Ownership Scheme and where the local authority still retains an ownership stake,
• Voluntary and co-operative housing,
• Residential property to which commercial rates apply,
• Residential property owned by a charity or comprised in a discretionary trust, and
• Residential property where a person has to leave their house due to long-term mental or physical infirmity (e.g. a person that has moved into a nursing home).

The waivers from payment of the household charge are as follows:

• Owners of residential property entitled to mortgage interest supplement,
• Owners of residential property located in prescribed unfinished housing estates.

An owner of a residential property who does not pay a household charge or an instalment thereof by the due date will be subject to late payment fees and late payment interest.

Furthermore, both the €100 charge and any accumulated late payment fee will be a charge against the property concerned and will continue to be such for twelve years after the charge or late payment penalties concerned became due.  Any household charges or late payment penalties due on a residential property will have to be discharged, in full, before a transfer or sale of the property can be completed.