COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 14, 2021

QUESTION NO. 15

QUESTION: Councillor K. Mahon

There are at least 2,243 identified properties in the South Dublin County Council area that are in the possession of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) or other large scale venture capital corporations. Can the manager clarify what income is accrued to the Council through the Rates System from Real Estate Investment Trusts? Can the Chief Executive clarify what local taxation measures are used by South Dublin County Council to accrue income from Real Estate Investment Trusts? Can the manager comment on what income has been generated to the local authority directly from Real Estate Investment Trusts? 

REPLY:

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are companies whose income is derived from the rental of

  1. Commercial and, or
  2. Residential property

A REIT may be a single company or a group of companies. If a company intends to become a REIT, it must notify Revenue. The relevant legislation is contained in Part 25A – sections 705A to 705Q of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997. Sections 153(4A), 172D(3B), 617(1) and 739W TCA may also be of relevance.

  1. Commercial property: South Dublin County Council has a number of trusts rated and they do pay Rates to the Local Authority. However, whether these trusts are classified as REITS by Revenue is not disclosed to the Council. It should also be noted that Rates are assessed on occupiers of properties and not owners, accordingly there may be properties owned by REITS in South Dublin but occupied by businesses which are classified as Retail, Manufacturing etc.. For these reasons it is not possible to identify what income is accrued to the Council through the Rates system from REITS.
  2. Residential property: There are no specific exemptions for REITS from Local Property Tax (LPT). Accordingly a property would be liable for LPT if it was a residential property on the valuation date of 1 May 2013. Recently announced proposals to include properties constructed after 2013 and reduce the number of exemptions applicable to LPT may lead to an increased income from this source, however as Revenue do not provide details of LPT assessed on REITS it is not possible to state what income is accrued to the Council through LPT from REITS.

Local Authorities do not categorise or generate income by “ownership type” such as Real Estate Investment Trusts. This type of information is not freely available to the Council and is not necessary in the calculation of any of its charges. Therefore there are no specific taxation measures used by South Dublin County Council to accrue income from REITS nor is it possible to comment on what income has been generated to it by REITS other than to say that any income receivable from REITS is promptly pursued by the Council until fully discharged.