Household Charge

Rules

Who has to pay

If you own a dwelling, you are liable for the Household Charge on it, subject to the waivers and exemptions listed below. If your house is rented out, you are liable for the charge – not your tenant. However, if it is let on a lease of more than 20 years, the person to whom it is leased is the owner for the purposes of the charge.

If you have a second home or other property on which you have to pay the Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) charge, you also have to pay the Household Charge on it.

Virtually all private residential properties, including apartments and bedsits, are liable for the charge. Waivers and exemptions are described below

Waivers

If you are entitled to Mortgage Interest Supplement on the liability date (1 January each year) you can claim a waiver of the Household Charge.

People living in certain unfinished housing estates can also claim a waiver for the years 2012 and 2013. Details of qualifying estates are published on the Household Charge website. They are also listed in the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012 (SI 1/2012). If your estate is not listed, you will not get the waiver.

You must still register your property in order to claim either waiver – see ‘How to apply’ below.

Exemptions

Residential properties are exempt from the Household Charge if they are:

• Part of the trading stock of a business and have not been sold or been the source of any income since construction or
• Owned by government departments or the Health Service Executive or
• Owned by local authorities or voluntary housing bodies (including dwellings not yet fully bought from a local authority under the shared ownership scheme) or
• Liable for commercial rates and wholly used as a dwelling or
• In a discretionary trust or owned by an approved charity.

Mobile homes are also exempt.

Your property is also exempt from the charge if you had to vacate it for over a year before the liability date due to a long-term mental or physical infirmity – this is largely to cover situations where people are in nursing homes or have moved in with relatives because of their need for care. To be exempt from the charge in 2012, you must have vacated the property on 31 December 2010 or earlier.

There is no need to register exempt properties. However, at some stage you may be asked for proof (such as a doctor’s letter) if you do not pay the charge because of the ‘care away from home’ exemption.

Registering your property

You must register your property to declare your liability for the Household Charge or to claim a waiver. You must provide details of the property (see 'How to apply' below.

The Act provides for data sharing among relevant agencies such as local authorities, the Department of Social Protection, the Revenue Commissioners, the Private Residential Tenancies Board and the ESB so that liable residential properties can be identified.

Paying the charge

If you own a dwelling, the liability date for the Household Charge is 1 January each year, starting in 2012. For people paying it as a single amount, the due date was 31 March 2012. In order to pay in 4 instalments in 2012, you must have set up a direct debit mandate by 29 February.

Late payment penalties and interest apply if you did not pay the charge in time – see ‘Rates’ below. It is an offence not to pay the charge. Local authorities have the power to prosecute people who do not pay.

Proof of payment

You get a receipt when you have paid the Household Charge. If you wish, you can also ask for a certificate of discharge, confirming that the charge has been paid for the year concerned. Proof of payment will be needed if you wish to sell or transfer the property.

Deceased owners

If the owner of a residential property dies, the personal representative of the deceased is liable for the charge if a grant of representation has been taken out. If no grant has been taken out, no charge is payable.

The personal representative will be liable to pay any outstanding charges within 3 months of taking out a grant of representation – these charges are those which were outstanding at the time of the owner’s death. If the personal representative does not pay any outstanding charges within this 3-month period, the charges and interest start to accumulate again from the date of the grant of representation.