The number of landowners who have lodged appeals with an Bord Pleanála over the inclusion of their land in Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) maps has jumped from six to 600 in the space of just three weeks.
According to latest figures from an Bord Pleanála the planning body has received a total of 600 appeals from landowners who are unhappy that their land was included in the first RZLT draft maps that were published by local authorities on November, 1 last year.
Farmers and landowners who did not agree with a local authority’s decision could lodge an appeal with an Bord Pleanála up until May 1, 2023.
According to the planning body these appeals could relate to:
- the exclusion of a site from a final map, on the basis that the land constituting the site does not satisfy the relevant criteria;
- a change to the date specified in the map as the date on which land constituting a site first satisfied the relevant criteria.
The RZLT is a new tax that will come into force from next February and land that is designated as in “scope”, is any land that is currently zoned for residential use and has access to services such as water supply, roads and lighting.
According to Revenue there are a number of exclusions from the scope of the new tax which includes land that is considered “integral to the operation of a business carried out on or beside it”.
The government has said that the aim of the tax is “to activate land for residential development throughout the country, rather than to raise revenue”.
However farming organisations have warned that farm families could potentially have to pay €450 per acre from next year on land which is in scope and as a result the new tax could force families to sell land that has been in their generation for years.
Supplemental zoned land maps were published earlier this week by a number of local authorities which identified additional land within the scope of the tax.
Landowners have been urged to check if their land is included in the new supplemental maps that have been published.
Farmers and landowners can object to the inclusion of their land in the supplement maps by making a submission to their local authority by June, 1 2023.