‘Great shock’ for Tipperary family as concerns raised over residential land tax notifications
Concerns have been raised in Tipperary about how landowners are being informed of their liability for the residential zoned land tax, following the rezoning of land for housing.
At the April meeting of the Thurles Municipal District, independent councillor Jim Ryan asked representatives from the council’s planning section about the residential zoned land tax (RZLT), a tax introduced to encourage the building of homes on empty sites, and how the council were letting landowners know about their liability.
Cllr Ryan said that he had been helping a family of a recently deceased person who did not know they were liable for the RZLT.
"A family came into me last week, very upset. A parent of theirs had died and part of the area where the parent was living was zoned residential as included in the map of RZLT areas.
"The family weren’t aware of it, and as a result of it their solicitor has told them they may be facing a very high tax bill,” Cllr Ryan said.
The revelation came as a “great shock” to the family, he added.
The independent councillor asked the planning section what lengths the council went to to notify landowners or families in cases like these.
"As regards notifying landowners of the penalties in relation to lands that are included in the RZLT – and I know it was on public display, but a lot of people that have land maybe mightn’t be aware of it, or as in this case, was in hospital for a long time.
"I’m just wondering, do you request something back from families or do you write to them and say that the land is included?” Cllr Ryan asked.
In response, Fergal O’Donnell of Tipperary County Council’s planning section said that while they sympathise with the family in this case, the legislation doesn’t say that the local authority has to write to landowners to let them know that their land is liable.
“I sympathise with that situation but the legislation as it is set out doesn’t specifically require us to consult landowners. As you can imagine, there’s actually thousands that could be potentially in scope for the RZLT,” Mr O’Donnell said.
"There are a number of exclusions to say that people don’t have to pay the RZLT even if they are in scope, but even if we were to try and notify landowners through the Land Direct system, there’s a number of landowners that just aren’t in place, but I think that’s the reason behind the legislation, or part of it at least,” he explained.
Mr O’Donnell acknowledged the difficulty for families caught unaware and added that if Cllr Ryan passed on the family’s details, he would get in touch and try to address the situation.