Any leniency on penalties/late fees for NPPR?

A

amethyst

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(I'm asking on behalf of someone, but for simplicitly, I'll write as if it is me.)

My uncle was in his late 80's for the few years before he died and was ill and incapacitated. He did not pay his NPPR during this time.

On probate we were slapped with substantial late fees/penalties for all the time he did not pay. The penalties are very high -- maybe twice the unpaid tax itself.

Is there any leniency in Ireland for penalties/late fees where illness/age is an element in non-payment? Or should I just face full penalties/late fees and not bother seeking any leniency/reduction?

Thanks!
 
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If the funds are there in the estate then I don't see there being any leniency at all.
 
How many properties did he have, who dealt with the properties in his absence?
 
Thanks for the replies.

Joe, as there is ample money in the estate, in the light of the other replies, it looks like your other questions are moot.
 
If he did not own more than one property it would be remiss of the executor to pay taxes that were not due.
 
I'd just like to say I know from experience how hard this issue is. When an elderly person is physically and/or mentally incapacitated it feels like a full time job just to ensure that they are cared for. Even in ideal circumstances, and assuming no family disputes, its very hard to engage with them on legal/financial issues as they will generally not be prepared or able to admit their incapacity.

To be honest matters such as tax take a back seat. Its easy to look back with hindsight and see how things should have been handled but believe me in the midst of what seems like constant care crises its not the priority!
 
The info Joe90 asked for is worth providing to get a better answer. Some of what is posted here by some posters is not always 100% correct.

If the penalty refers to a home that was once the PPR, (till becoming ill and then having to live somewhere else) then I believe the legislation provides a waiver to the tax If there are multiple investment properties, then it (waiver) unlikely to apply.
 
Does your uncle's NPPR liability arise from vacating his home because of illness or incapacity? If so, it should be possible to claim exemption for the respective periods up to his death and up to finalisation of probate.
 
Thanks for your replies. I appreciate your efforts to help.

He had several properties. The properties in question weren't his PPR at all; he did not vacate this property due to illness.

There doesn't seem to be any exemption applying to him. He was just very old and ill. And from what I am hearing, there will be no special mercy for this.

The US seems to be much fairer in this regard. There the charge for being late is divided into interest and penalty. It is possible to get the penalty reduced for serious illness, though the 'interest' portion (which is punitive enough in itself) is almost impossible to shift. This seems fairer.

The unpaid tax amounts to about 3K, and the penalties to about 9K, over a period of only a four years. (They're very rough guesses). Yes, the penalties are about three times the tax.

I've seen in another thread that there may be a case to be made in the High Court about the unconstitutionality of this excessive penalty. The problem with this is that if you lost the case I think it might cost you 100K in adverse cost award and your own lawyers fees.
 
It's hard to judge the validity of any appeal with more information. Was rent being collected on these properties for the period in question? Were the properties insured? Who was responsible for maintaining the properties?
 
Artile about people who 'forget' to pay their charges

IRISH EXAMINER
Council to continue pursuing owners of holiday homes for €200 charge

Donal Hickey

The County Council in an area with one of the largest concentrations of holiday homes in the country is to continue pursuing people who do not pay the €200 charge on second homes.

The Ombudsman’s office has received several complaints from people with such homes in Kerry, who claim they did not know about the NPPR charge. In the absence of a property register, the Council could not confirm the number of homes liable for the charge, but the 2011 Census showed around a quarter of all residences in the county were not permanently occupied. Of the 75,000 houses in Kerry, 20,000 were found in the Census to be vacant, with many believed to be holiday homes. Kerry has the third-highest number of vacant houses in the country and thousands of holiday homes were built in the county during the Celtic Tiger years. About 40% of houses in the south-west of the county, along the Ring of Kerry, are holiday homes, with the figure rising to 50% of Waterville’s housing stock. In and around Dingle, around half of houses are holiday homes.

The Ombudsman’s office has confirmed it is examining at least six cases of people with second homes in Kerry but who are living overseas and who say they were not aware of the second home Charge. It has also emerged that when some complainants made themselves known to Kerry County Council, they were also hit with a penalty charge, calculated at €20 per month for every month the Charge remains unpaid. In some cases, cheques were returned to the property owner because the Council wanted the penalty charge included. A Council spokesman, Padraig Corkery, told the Irish Examiner they wrote to several organisations — including holiday home firms, estate agents, golf clubs, and other places holiday-makers might visit — when the Charge was introduced. “We made every effort to let everybody know about the Charge and do not accept that people were not aware of it,” he said. “People with holiday homes, and who are away, generally have someone looking after the house for them. For instance, if a property gets damaged, it is very unlikely they would not find out about it.” Mr Corkery said that, under the legislation, the Council had no discretion to waive penalties and would continue to pursue those who failed to pay.
 
Folks

Please stay strictly on topic for this thread. Do not head off into a discussion of the fairness or otherwise. We have closed that discussion in another thread.
 
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