Household charge set at €100

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan has announced a new temporary “household charge” of €100 per year.
The new tax, viewed as a forerunner to a property tax and a water charge, will be levied on the estimated 1.8 million householders in the State, potentially raising €160 million in revenue in 2012.
Commercial properties and social housing as well as charity-run and sheltered homes are among properties exempt from the tariff. Younger people struggling to make home loan repayments, who qualify under the mortgage interest supplement scheme, can also qualify for a waiver.
The charge, which was agreed by Cabinet this morning, will be introduced in January next year, with householders given three months to pay up. Late payment penalties have been set at €10 a month.
Mr Hogan said he understood people are already suffering levies, charges and interest rate hikes, but he insisted he had no other option. “I’d prefer not to be introducing any charges but I’m obliged because we have ceded our economic sovereignty as part of the EU/IMF agreement, to bring in a property tax,” he said.
Admitting the tax could be fairer, he said it was a temporary two-year measure ahead of a property tax based on a value in 2014, which would be a “much fairer system”.
At a briefing in Government Buildings, the Minister said the new levy was an interim measure ahead of a full property tax, based on a property valuation system, and was separate from planned water charges. The water tax is to be introduced in 2014.
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