By Ted Healy of DNG TED HEALY

The Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) is a new tax aimed at increasing housing supply by activating zoned, serviced residential development lands (including mixed-use lands) for housing.

It was introduced by Government in the Finance Act 2021. The process to identify land to which the tax applies is underway and the tax will be payable from 2024.

The annual tax will apply at a rate of three percent of the land’s market value and will operate on a self-assessment basis.

Who pays:

Those who own lands, identified in the local authorities’ Residential Zoned Land Tax Maps, which are:
zoned for residential or mixed-use (including residential) purposes in a Local Authority Development Plan, and serviced sufficiently or capable of being serviced sufficiently to support residential development, and
are not excluded from the tax, as set out within the legislation.

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, but the property is subject to the Local Property Tax (LPT).

When to register:

Each Local Authority will publish a Final Residential Zoned Land Tax Map by December 1, 2023 indicating what lands are subject to the Residential Zoned Land Tax. A draft map is currently available to view from Kerry County Council. The tax will first fall due on February 1, 2024, with a filing and payment date of May 23, 2024.

What now:

A Draft Residential Zoned Land Tax Map showing lands that will be subject to the Residential Zoned Land Tax is available from Kerry County Council.

Submissions are invited by January 1, 2023 to make a suggested correction to the draft map, request a change of zoning or identify other land that should be subject to the tax.

If you disagree with the Local Authority decision with regard to your land, you may appeal to An Bord Pleanála.