LPT liability on a house with 2 basement flats

cs1976

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My father has a house (not his primary residence) with 2 small self contained flats in the basement. He had the house let out, 1 flat let out and a family member lived in 2nd flat when the property tax came into effect 2013. Revenue issued 2 property id's, one for the main house and 1 for the flat that was let out but none for the 2nd flat with the family member. He called lpt line at the time to explain the set up and query if he was liable for lpt on the 2nd flat. He was advised because they were a part of the house that he was liable for lpt on the overall value of the house only. They said to email in the id number relating to the flat and ask for it to be removed on this basis and so he did and they replied to apologise and removed it.
Now he is selling the property of course in its entirety as the flats were never separate to the house and is being told by the buyers solicitor that he is liable for lpt on the house and the 2 flats?! He called Revenue and they quoted some act to him saying yes that any dwelling with its own front door and kitchen is liable so he needs id numbers for the 2 flats, despite being told differently and having an email to pretty much concur this.
I found an faq section on their website stating the following so wonder should this be applied as I do not see how the flats can be valued separately from the main house:

The strict legal position is that any self-contained dwelling, such as a granny flat, is treated as a separate residential property that will incur a separate LPT liability. However, Revenue recognises that certain types of dwelling that are an integral part of a larger building may be difficult to value and sell on the open market. Therefore Revenue will give a liable person the option of valuing a granny flat as part of the overall building where the liable person in relation to both parts of the building is the same. However, where there is a different liable person in relation to the granny flat and the rest of the building, the granny flat should be valued separately for LPT purposes. This treatment also applies to other similar types of dwelling that are an integral part of the overall building such as converted garages and side extensions.
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Does anyone have any experience or can advise on this?
 
Your father should take advice from his own solicitor.

Anecdotally, Revenue seem to have adopted the approach of wanting to get their database in place as a priority over technicalities.

Your father can seek specific clearance from Revenue based on his experience. If that is not forthcoming, he will have to clear the arrears.

mf
 
Hi CS1976, what happened with your case/your fathers case above in the end. ? I am in similar situation now with LPT and a house in 7 flats. Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you Ciaran
 
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