From Department of Finance; Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien have announced the deferral of the initial liability date for the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) by one year, from 1 February 2024 until 1 February 2025.
This deferral, announced as part of Budget 2024, will afford landowners an additional opportunity to submit requests for a change in the zoning of their land to local authorities in respect of the mapping process being undertaken as part of the 2024/25 annual mapping process, ahead of the initial liability date in 2025.
The RZLT measure is an important component of the pathway to increasing new housing supply, contained in the government’s Housing for All plan to 2030.
The aim of the tax, which will apply from 2025 to relevant land at a rate of 3% of market value, is to activate appropriately zoned land for residential development throughout the country, rather than to raise revenue.
Speaking following the announcement of the deferral Minister McGrath said:
“The extension of the initial liability date of the Residential Zoned Land Tax by a year is an important step to ensure fairness and transparency in the process of implementing the tax.
“Ireland requires increased housing supply to meet our housing needs. The RZLT aims to incentivise landowners to activate existing zoned and serviced residential development land for housing on identified lands and lead to the building of more homes. The tax measure is a key pillar of the government’s response to address the urgent need to increase housing supply in suitable locations. However, affected landowners should have another opportunity to engage with the mapping process before the tax comes into effect, especially considering the application of the tax to previously unaffected lands for the first time. For these reasons, I have decided to defer the liability date to 1 February 2025.
"The deferral will provide a further opportunity to landowners whose land will appear on the annual draft map for 2025, to be published on 1 February 2024, to request the rezoning of such land from the local authority in whose functional area the land is situated."
Commenting on the deferral of the initial liability date for the Residential Zoned Land Tax, Minister O’Brien said:
“It’s estimated that only one-sixth of residentially zoned land is currently activated for housing during a local authority’s six-year Development Plan period. We need to see more suitable land which is serviced and available for housing unlocked for the delivery of homes and the RZLT is an important measure to ensure suitable land is brought forward for development.
"I wish to acknowledge the significant work put into publication of the draft, supplemental and final maps and provision of determinations to landowners by each local authority and An Bord Pleanála during 2022 and 2023. The publication of Final Maps on 1 December identifying the land in scope is an important step in the process of introducing this measure, a key action in Housing for All, aimed at increasing housing supply.
"As a consequence of the deferral of the tax liability, landowners now have an additional opportunity to make submissions to their local authority, , if they consider that their land does not fall into the scope of the tax, or if they wish to seek the re-zoning of their land.
"Taken together with the planned Land Value Sharing initiative and reform of the planning system, the government is ensuring an active approach to land management and that housing will be built more quickly.”
Homeowners will not have to pay the Residential Zoned Land Tax if they own a dwelling which appears on the local authorities’ Residential Zoned Land Tax Maps, where the property is subject to the Local Property Tax (LPT).
More information on the RZLT can be found at: www.gov.ie/rzlt.