November has finally arrived, and that means it's Local Property Tax (LPT) valuation day.
Anyone who owns a property must determine the market value of that property as of today.
However, you have until the end of the week to submit your property tax return and decide how you're going to pay it next year.
It's expected a majority of homeowners will still be paying the same LPT rates as before, while around a third will be paying at least €90-100 extra.
Properties built since 2013 are also being charged for the first time.
On today's Lunchtime Live, consumer journalist Sinead Ryan explained what you need to do over the coming days.
She explained: “You have to tell Revenue how much you think your property is worth - this is a self-assessed tax.
“You have to value your property: 'here’s what I believe, honestly and truly, my house is worth'.
“You have to make as good a stab at the price as you possibly can."
For recent home buyers, you'll already have a good idea of what your house or apartment is worth.
For everyone else, Sinead says there are a few different ways you can go about actually go about valuing your home.
She said: “The most obvious way is going on the Revenue’s own valuation tool on their website - it will show you in a given area what the average house price is.
“I wouldn’t stop there… another way is to go on the Property Price Register. That has every house that has been sold in the country since 2013. You can put in your own address or road or estate.
“Or you could go to local estate agents and get a valuation from recent sales in the area.”
She stressed that the 20 LPT valuation bands are "very broad" (around €90,000 per band), so people shouldn’t be too stressed about what will happen if they make a genuine mistake.
She said: “Do your best with this: as long as you’re honest and true, you’re not going to run into problems with Revenue if you can back up [the valuation] with the best evidence you have.”
Filing and paying
Anyone filing a local property tax return will need their property ID and PIN number to complete their return.
Most people will have received those in a letter from Revenue - either by post or through Revenue's online services.
Anyone who hasn't received a letter by post is being encouraged to check their MyAccount or Revenue Online Service (ROS) inboxes before contacting Revenue directly.
With those details, they can then fill out their return, with Revenue encouraging people to do it online.
Sinead explained that you will need to tell Revenue how you're going to pay the tax - but you won't be paying until next year.
People can choose to pay either via a single payment or in phased instalments throughout 2022.
The phased direct debit payments will begin on January 15th and be deducted on the 15th of every month.
Anyone who opts to pay in one go via the Annual Debit Instruction (ADI) option will not have the money deducted from their bank account until March 21st 2022. However, credit or debit card payments will go through on the day you submit them.
Anyone paying in one go by cash or cheque has until January 12th to pay.
In short: today is the valuation date; the LPT return forms must be completed by November 7th (this coming Sunday); and you'll start paying the new rate of tax from next year.
