Property tax value confusion adding to homeowner distress - Cowen

Fianna Fail’s Barry Cowen said today (Tuesday) that confusion over property tax values on the Revenue Commissioner’s website is adding to the distress of homeowners in difficulty in Offaly. Deputy Cowen has expressed concern about flaws in the valuation of homes in some areas listed on the website, and has called for political leadership to sort it out.

“There is a genuine sense of fear and exasperation among Offaly homeowners about the government’s decision to slap a new tax on the family home during an escalating mortgage and personal debt crisis that has still not been tackled,” Deputy Cowen said.

“People who are already deep in negative equity, who feel they cannot afford their mortgage and household bills as it is and who feel that nothing has been done to support them, just cannot understand how they are expected pay even more charges on their home at this time.”

Deputy Cowen added that “glaring discrepancies” on the new property tax website is adding to people’s exasperation. He said the buck ultimately stops with the government, and it must now ensure that any problems involved in the roll out of the tax and communication of what’s involved are sorted out.

“We saw the chaos that Minister Phil Hogan created last year by failing to communicate property with the public over the household charge, failing to consider people’s ability to pay, and using bully tactics to force people into paying,” he said. “So far it seems that they have learned nothing from this, and instead are just forging ahead with a deeply unfair plan that’s causing great confusion and distress among homeowners across the midlands.

“The bottom line is that homeowners who cannot afford their home as it is simply can’t pay hundreds of euro in extra taxes on that home. Local Fine Gael and Labour representatives who are defending this family home tax need to wake up and realise this.”