Household charge to be taken out of salaries and pensions

Thousands of homeowners received letters this week telling them that money they owe for the household charge is being deducted from their wages and pensions.

The €200 household charge has been replaced by the property tax, but Revenue is now getting tough with those who have so far failed to pay it.

 Letters have been sent to 50,000 PAYE workers, telling them that their employers have been ordered to deduct the €200 charge from their wages.

The workers will have just five days to pay up or else the money will come out of their wages over the course of the year, Revenue has warned.

 Enforcement

20,000 letters will be issued from Revenue to property owners who have not paid the Household Charge and whose only source of income is from the Department of Social Protection, such as pensioners.

The letters will advise the owners that they are likely to be eligible for a deferral of the charge which will be granted automatically unless they contact Revenue to pay the amount due, make payment arrangements or advise why they may not be liable.

Thousands of self-employed people who have failed to pay up are also being told they are to have penalty interest imposed on them, be denied a tax-clearance certificate and have the debt referred to the county sheriff.

These people will also have to pay the costs of the sheriff, which is expected to be around 10pc of the tax due, Mr Noonan told Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath in a Dail reply.

By next month, Revenue expects to have issued more than 200,000 letters to people who have failed to pay the household charge and the property tax.

So far €290m has been collected this year for the property tax and the household charge, 8pc ahead of target.

Mr Noonan stated: "Revenue has advised me that approximately 50,000 letters will issue this week to property owners who are taxed under the PAYE system, informing them that notifications are issuing to their employers instructing them to deduct the €200 household charge liability from salary."

Warnings from Revenue that it was getting set to deduct unpaid household charge bills from wages and pensions have prompted 122,000 property owners to stump up €20m since Revenue took over the collections process. A further 70,000 have contacted it about their failure to pay up.

Mr Noonan said 91pc of the two property-related taxes had so far been paid this year.

But he added: "In total, Revenue anticipates that in excess of 200,000 compliance letters will have issued by early July, though this number will most likely reduce as property owners decide to pay their outstanding liabilities to avoid the additional expense and embarrassment that comes with Revenue debt-collection/ enforcement activity."

Source: Irish Independent