Effective from 1st July 2013, anyone who has not yet paid, or started to pay, their applicable local property tax (LPT) will have the option to have it deducted from their payroll (or occupational pension) available to them. Those who fail to submit their LPT return or fail to meet the relevant payment obligations will have mandatory deduction at source from salary or pension imposed.
Employers and occupational pension providers alike will be obliged to ensure this facility is available to employees from next month.
If property owners are availing of the option to have their applicable LPT deducted at source Revenue will notify the employer/ pension provider via the P2C (employer copy of the tax credit certificate in respect of the individual employee).
The relevant sum is to be deducted from the employee’s net pay.
The employer is to commence deducting the LPT once he or she has received the relevant P2C (but not prior to July 1st 2013). The P2Cs are due to be issued to employers by mid June. The LPT to be deducted should be illustrated at the bottom of the P2C. The deductions are to be made, on a consistent basis only, over the 6 month period between July and December 2013. If the employee is paid weekly then the LPT deduction should be made weekly and if the employee is paid monthly then the deduction should be applied monthly.
For example if the LPT to be deducted is €300 then an employee who is paid weekly will see €300/26=€11.538 deducted from their weekly net salary (Any rounding should be in favour of the employee) – If an employee owing €300 is paid monthly then he or she is due to pay €300/6=€50 on a monthly basis. Any refunds of LPT will be dealt with by Revenue – Employers are not to make any refunds of this kind.
If the employer receives the P2C detailing LPT after the July payroll has run then the total LPT should be deducted from August through December – the remaining 5 month period.
Employers will have to keep a record of the applicable LPT that they deduct for Revenue and will be required to account for the figures on the Forms P30 and P35 in respect of the employees concerned. The employer will also have to record the appropriate LPT data for employees on their payslips as well as P60’s and P45s.
Where there is a Court Order on file prior to the issuance of the P2C this will take precedence over the LPT deduction. However, if the P2C is issued prior to a Court Order being made then the LPT deduction will preside. Where the Court Order and P2C are issued or made effective from the same date the Court Order takes precedence. The LPT payment, however, takes precedence over all non-statutory deductions.
The Employer/Pension provider cannot take an instruction from the employee to stop deducting LPT from his or her salary – the employer is obliged to deduct the applicable LPT until the P2C shows that no further payment is due. If an employee would like to pay the relevant tax via a different method he or she should contact the LPT Branch and make these arrangements – then the employer will be issued with an updated P2C telling them to stop the deduction from pay/pension. Similarly if the employee feels as though there is a discrepancy in the amount of LPT they are being charged he or she should discuss this with the LPT Branch and if an adjustment needs to be made to the P2C then a revised directive will be issued to the employer.
According to Revenue “Where there are shortfalls due to insufficient net salary in a particular pay period(s) the employer should adjust the amount of LPT to be deducted per pay period (for the remaining pay periods in the year) to ensure the full amount of LPT is collected by the end of the year. Once this is done, the employer will not be required to notify Revenue about the shortfall. However, employers must notify Revenue in writing (e.g. by Secure Email to employersLPT@revenue.ie) where there will be insufficient income to satisfy the employee’s full LPT liability for the year, based on the expected income for the employee.”
Revenue has established a helpline for employers and pension providers alike to assist with their queries on how this LPT deduction at source will operate.
The Employer Helpline is 1890 25 45 65.
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