Tax forces bereaved to dig deeper for grave openings

JUST WHEN you thought the cost of living could not escalate through more stealth taxes, authorities are now slapping VAT on the cost of death.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is the latest local authority to introduce the tax on grave openings, which is being progressively rolled out across the State.

In a letter to funeral undertakers, the council sets out the charge for interment of an adult which it says has now risen to €868.28, inclusive of VAT, with effect from May 1st last.

The charge is separate to the cost of buying a burial plot.

The letter indicates that the council has been required to charge VAT since measures in the 2010 Finance Act came into force in July 2010. The council said it had been digging into its own coffers to cover the VAT element itself up to the end of April this year. Varying dates of the introduction of the VAT element have been experienced across the country. Like Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin County Council delayed the VAT introduction but only until January 2012. Fingal County Council said it had been applying the VAT rate “from the beginning”.

Introduction of the tax on grave-opening charges stems from a European Court of Justice ruling.

This determined that where statutory agencies were faced with competition from the private sector, they must charge VAT, in the interest of fairness. This was implemented in Ireland from July 2010.

The increases follow price rises announced in recent months by a number of local authorities for burial plots – a move described by Eamon Timmins of Age Action Ireland as the only instance he knew of property prices going up.

Several local authorities, including South Dublin and Fingal, say guidance from the Revenue Commissioners calls for the imposition of 23 per cent VAT on openings. But Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is quoting undertakers a lower 13.5 per cent rate.

A spokeswoman for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown said the council had been told by the Revenue that the rate on interment was 13.5 per cent.

However, the Revenue told The Irish Times that “such fees are liable at the standard rate of 23 per cent”.

Should the council be incorrect, the cost of a grave opening in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown would likely be set to rise again – to €940.95 for an adult grave.

There may be a lack of clarity about the rates but Benjamin Franklin’s maxim still applies: “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”