The deadline was to be last Friday night, but was extended to 5.30pm on Wednesday. When that time had passed, about 500,000 had yet to file a return.
Owners had to self-assess the value of their property as of last Saturday week and by Wednesday, they needed to file a return, which entails telling Revenue what valuation band the home now fits into and how they are going to pay from next year.
Owners were required to revalue their properties for the first time since 2021.
By Wednesday evening, a total of 1.6 million local property tax (LPT) returns had been filed, Revenue said, well short of the total expected.
“The total number of returns to be filed is 2,111,273,” Revenue said
Revenue said: “Of those who have not yet filed their LPT return, approximately 330,000 have paid or put a payment arrangement in place for 2026.
“Property owners are reminded that regardless of whether they have paid in full or have a rollover payment arrangement in place or even where they agree with the Notice of Estimate that Revenue has made for their property, they still need to file an LPT Return to confirm the correct valuation band of their property.”
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Wednesday, November 12
Revenue urged property owners who haven’t filed their LPT Return to take immediate action and use this opportunity to ensure they are fully compliant with their LPT obligations.
Gearóid O’Sullivan, head of tax at Chartered Accountants Ireland said property tax tends to have a very high compliance rate.
Figures from Revenue for the end of last year show that 97pc of property owners were in compliance.
Asked why so many owners have yet to file a return this year, Mr O’Sullivan said some tax practitioner members of Chartered Accountants Ireland were reporting problems accessing the property tax portal.
“If there are people who have still to file, it suggests some are having problems accessing the system,” he said.
Revenue denied there were any new IT problems with its local property tax portal. Some homeowners had reported problems with the system in recent weeks.
Avril McGarry, private client consultant with NFP Ireland, said the reason so many have yet to file was likely to be a mix of factors.
“Many people may assume their previous return covers them, while others simply put it off out of fear or confusion about Revenue’s online system,” Ms McGarry said.
“There’s also a degree of apathy until a deadline looms large, which is why we often see a last-minute rush followed by a sizeable number who still miss the cut-off.”
Revenue said it had still to reply to around 100,000 people who had written to it querying how to file the local property tax return.
These people will be considered compliant, with the tax authority promising to reply to them in the coming days.
Last Friday, Revenue was forced to extend the deadline. A logjam of 100,000 unanswered phone calls, along with letters that had yet to be replied to, left the tax authority with little choice but to give homeowners until 5.30pm on Wednesday to file.
Over the past week, Revenue staff have handled about 7,000 calls daily about the tax.