Sir, – I wish to highlight my predicament in relation to the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) charge.
With all of the publicity surrounding the €100 household charge, I feel this charge has been overlooked.
I am a qualified solicitor who was made unemployed following the expiry of my training contract in 2009. I went to Australia seeking to further my career in law, but having been unable to find work in the legal profession there I returned to Ireland in early 2011. Unable to find work on my return, I was forced to move back into my family home and lease the house that I had bought as I could no longer afford to pay the mortgage. I am now undergoing an unpaid internship in a company in the hope of gaining enough experience to enable me to get a job.
I was contacted by the council in late October 2011 to inform me of my liability for the NPPR for the previous two years. With a €200 per year payment due, and penalties accruing at the rate of €20 per month per yearly charge, my liability for same is now standing at €920. To clarify matters, I do not own a second home. I own one home. I am informed that I am liable for the charge because I no longer live in it. For economic reasons I was forced to move from it into my family home and I am now being taxed on it at an exorbitant rate. This is grossly unfair. My house is not an investment property, it is a home that I can no longer afford due to the actions of the previous government. I feel that this tax was sold to the public as a tax on “second” homes, with the general attitude being that if you can afford two homes you can afford to pay the charge.
I do not know if the legislators intended to include people such as myself within the remit of this tax. It is irrelevant now, as, barring the legislation being repealed, I will have to pay.
I have been informed by my local council that there is no provision for settlement, part-payment, payment by instalment or any exemption for people on social welfare, such as myself, contained within the legislation, so their hands are tied. There must be a huge number of people who are in the same situation as I am, and it is time we spoke out against this unjust and arbitrary tax. – Yours, etc,