The Revenue will only accept payment from non-residents by debit/credit card although this is not mentioned in the letter which they sent out. I tried to pay the LPT over the internet but, as I do not have a PPS number, was unable to login.
Eventually, I found a FAQ which says: “If you do not have an Irish PPSN or tax registration number, you must provide further information in order to file your Return. Please follow the instructions that appear on screen. You should also note that the only payment method available to you is Debit / Credit card.”
1. There are no instructions on the screen.
2. The letter did not say non-residents must pay by card and now I will miss the deadline.
3. I did not receive any paper payment form.
I prefer to pay by Single Debit Authority but the Revenue will not let me! Don’t they want my money?
Ms A.McS., email
I know some people are by this stage heartily fed up with the issue of the local property tax (LPT) but the weight of mail indicates that this is still the dominant issue worrying readers.
Turning more particularly to your letter, it must be very frustrating to actively seek to meet your tax obligations only to find yourself frustrated by the system.
The good news is that Revenue tells me that there is an answer. The problem appears to be that the link you were accessing online related to the 2013 local property tax process.
If you click on the following link – http://iti.ms/1jfKerF – it will bring you to the current LPT login page. You then need to click, as you know, on “I do not have an Irish PPSN or Tax Registration Number”.
A pop-up box will then appear to explain that if you don’t have either a PPS number or an Irish tax registration number, you should provide your country of residence and the tax reference number for that country. I am assured that you will then be able to continue to submit your local property tax return online.
In case, you think you’ve lost your marbles, the Revenue did concede that the facility to enter your foreign tax reference number was only made available in the first week of November so it might well not have been available if you tried the process before that. Given that you are able to pay online, you will not be in any problem with the deadline now.
Finally, using the system as outlined above will permit you to pay by Single Debit Authority under which your payment will be deducted electronically from your account in March 2014.
Payment
problems
with LPT
Please see below a copy of letter (sent by post and email) to Revenue on November 3rd.
“On 31st October, I received the letter (dated 18th October) in connection with the payment of my LPT for 2014 and advising me to select a payment option by accessing my LPT Record via the Revenue website. The letter also states that I can pay in full by debit/card, cash or by cheque. The last (cheque) is my preferred payment option.
I followed the instructions on the reverse page of the letter and got to the “Select Payment Method”. There were five options: 1. Deduction at Source. 2. Single Debit Authority. 3. Monthly Direct Debit. 4. Debit/Credit Card. 5. Deferral.
When I typed either Cheque or Cash into the box, I was told "No Matching Payment for Cheque" or "Cash". It was not, therefore, possible for me to finalise my payment option.
When option no 4: Debit/Credit Card, was selected I was told that the payment would be made immediately, yet Enda Kenny clearly said that nobody would be asked to pay the LPT before January 1st, 2014.
Can you please advise me as to how to proceed? Needless to say, I’ve not had any response from them.
Ms C.O’R., email
If you pay online (via the Revenue website), you can choose only one of the five options you list. For what it’s worth, option #2 – single debit authority – is effectively an “electronic cheque” – ie the Revenue takes no money from your account until March 21st next at which point it takes the full sum due in one single payment.
Revenue notes that if you are filing online you are not given the option of sending in a cheque: it sees the Single Debit Authority as an “electronic cheque” which also gives you more time to pay as it is not deducted before March 21st next. However, for whatever reason, it seems some people are wary of “the electronic cheque” format.
If you do want to pay by cheque. You have two choices. Send a cheque now and it will be cashed or send a cheque later (but on or before January 1st, 2014).
The Revenue website does detail how to do this, using the letter and Form LPT1A that people not paying online will have received some time back. The problem in your case, the Revenue believes, is that people who paid online in May for the 2013 tax will not have received this form LPT1A with their 2014 tax reminder letter. I would have thought it was easier to send everyone the same letter and forms, but there you go. It almost certainly has something to do with revenue not wishing to tempt people currently paying via the more efficient (for them) online system to switch to a paper return.
All is not lost, however, you can return online and send a payment by cheque. To do so, you will need to click on the “pay via service providers” option online and then send the cheque by mail.
Please remember to write the property ID number on the back of any cheque you send in. Failure to do so will cause all sorts of confusion and, almost certainly, the Revenue chasing you for what they will think is a missed payment. Not surprisingly, with all the data coming into them on this tax, a cheque with no identifying number is going to struggle to be matched with a previously submitted electronic form.
On a final note, our Taoiseach is not immune from putting his foot in it. However, on this occasion, what he said was that no-one will have to pay the tax this year – ie there are options allowing them to pay in 2014. But, if they do choose to pay by credit or debit card, it will be taken this year.
This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice. Please send your questions to Q&A, c/o Dominic Coyle, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2, or to dcoyle@irishtimes.com
