INSPECTORS are carrying
out spot checks on properties in Co Donegal to track
down people who are still evading the second home
charge four years on.
Donegal County Council has deployed staff working in
its Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) division
to inspect properties countywide in a bid to
ascertain ownership and liability for the €200 levy.
The council has also recently referred more than 50
cases of non-payment for legal action.
"Properties cannot be sold or transferred until the
charge is paid. In recent days, Donegal County
Council has referred cases to its legal advisors
with a view to taking legal action against property
owners who have failed to discharge the liability
and the local authority continues to carry out spot
checks throughout the county on property owners
suspected of evading the charge," said a council
spokesperson.
"A person guilty of an offence under the Act may be
liable to a fine up to €2,000 in addition to the
charge and late payment fees."
The deadline for payment of the NPPR charge is
Sunday, June 30, 2013.
Some 15,500 second home owners have registered with
Donegal County Council which collected almost €4
million from the levy last year.
Many of the holiday homes in the county are owned by
people from the North however the council said
yesterday it did not have the cross-border ownership
statistics "readily available". The council said the
NPPR income was helping to provide essential public
services as well as a growing national database.
"Prior to the introduction of the charge in 2009,
there was no national database of the number of
NPPRs," added the spokesperson. Late penalty fees of
€20 per month incur for each month the €200 is not
paid.
Late payment fees continue to accumulate as long as
the charge remains unpaid and the amount involved
"can be very substantial", said the spokesperson.
Both the NPPR and the half-year Local Property Tax (LPT)
is payable on non principal private residences this
year but only the LPT will apply from 2014. |
