Household Charge Ireland -The Details

The  Household Charge –  came into force in Ireland on January 1st 2012.   It only lasted a year and has now been replaced by the Local Property Tax.
Most owners  of residential property in Ireland were liable for the household charge on each residential  property they owned  as at 1st January 2012. Home owners who lived outside Ireland were also expected to register for and and pay the charge. The 2012 Household Charge amount was set at a flat rate of  €100.

From July 1st 2013 the Household Charge rose to €200 and is to be collected by Revenue along with the new  Property Tax . Read more here about Unpaid  Household Charge and  Property Tax

No Household Charge was due for 2013 . The Household Charge is now  replaced with a Property Tax from July 2013 – read more about Property Tax in Ireland

Under the Household Charge legislation- owners of residential properties were  required to make a declaration of liability and to pay the household charge by 31 March 2012

No bills or invoices  for the household charge were sent out – the charge was on a self declaration basis.

The definition of a residential property included  – houses, maisonettes, flats, apartments and , bedsits.  So – the owner of a building split into 5 bedsits was liable for five lots of Household Charge.

A  residential building is liable if it is occupied, or suitable for occupation.

Mobile homes are not classed as residential property and were not liable.
Tenants did not have to register for the Household Charge.

A property  which was let to more than one tenant with  exclusive use of a bedroom for each person and joint use of common areas was only be liable for one Household Charge

Registration and payment of the Household Charge  can no longer  be carried out online on the HouseholdCharge.ie  website.

The  Household Charge applied  to properties on which NPPR was also being paid. More about NPPR here

The following  exemptions from the Household Charge applied:

The following buildings  are not defined as  residential property and were not  liable for the household charge :  Buildings that are …

• Part of the trading stock of a business and from which no income has been derived since the building’s construction, and  has never been used as a dwelling.

• vested in certain public authorities (including property where households are purchasing their homes under the Shared Ownership Scheme and where the local authority still retains an ownership stake)

• owned by voluntary housing bodies;

• wholly used as dwellings and liable for commercial rates

An owner of a residential property was exempt from the household charge if , on the liability date, the residential property was:

• Comprised in a discretionary trust;

• Owned by an approved charity;

• Vacated by the owner by reason of long term mental or physical infirmity. (long term is more than 12 months)

Waivers

The following households had the charge waived :

1. Those in receipt of mortgage interest supplement –  (only about 18,000 households) (not to be confused with mortgage interest relief !)

2. Those in certain  unfinished housing estates (Estimated to be less than 1300 estates) :   – which will be on a list prescribed by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. (See List of  Unfinished Estates Here).

People claiming a waiver still needed to register for the household charge and claim the waiver.

More about Household Charge Waivers  Here.

Selling Your House : A vendor of a residential property must  pay  any household charge, late payment fee and late payment interest due on the property and give a certificate of discharge, exemption or waiver in respect of each liability date during the vendor’s ownership to a purchaser on or before the sale or transfer can be completed.

Take a look at our Top Tips For Saving Money  – If you  follow some of these you could easily save enough to cover your Household Charge and more.