This article is from page 4 of the 2012-03-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
CLARE County Council has no plans to send its staff to doorsteps around the county demanding the household charge. According to a spokesperson for the local authority, there are no plans at present to send council staff to collect the controversial tax, as there has been no communication from the Department of Environment and Local Government. It is also unknown how many Clare people have paid or registered to pay the € 100. “There is no figure for the amount paid by the council, other than to say the vast majority of household charge payments made are done online or via the postal system,” the spokesperson said. However, the local authority is giving every chance to the majority of the county’s householders who have yet to pay to meet the March 31 deadline by opening the council offices – Aras Contae and Chláir on Saturday. All owners of residential property in Ireland are liable for the household charge on each residential property they own from January. This includes those properties that are liable for the € 200 charge on Non-Principal Private Residences (NPPR). Owners of Irish residential properties who live outside Ireland are also required to register for and pay the household charge. Householders have until Saturday to pay the € 100 charge, after which financial penalties apply on an increasing basis. The late payment fee to apply in the case of a household charge paid within six months of the due date is 10 per cent or € 10. Later than six months and not later than 12 months after the due date, it rises to 20 per cent of the amount due. With just five days to go, an estimated 1.2 million householders nationally have yet to pay.