Longford landowners facing ‘punitive’ tax bills, says Ross
Dozens of landowners living in Longford are facing potentially 'punitive' tax bills under the Government's contentious residential zoned land tax (RZLT).
The claim was made by Fine Gael Cllr Paul Ross at a meeting of Longford County Council last week.
Cllr Ross, who was airing his misgivings during a notice of motion tabled by Cllr Gerry Warnock calling for zoned lands to be exempted from the new levy, said there was much disquiet within local agricultural circles over the move.
“It is a totally unfair and draconian tax on people who, through, no fault of their own, own land,” he said.
“Farmers are not speculators, developers or builders and they are being punitively penalised just because they happen to own land close to a village or town.”
The new Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) will apply to land and sites zoned for housing development and serviced with essential infrastructure but left unused.
Cllr Ross said the tax made little sense given the “dysfunctional” nature of Longford's housing market and the fact no private developer was building homes for the open market.