REVENUE officials have issued thousands of homeowners with letters warning them to pay the property tax or face enforcement action.

The tax authority said it has issued 150,000 letters to property owners who haven’t yet paid, or set up a payment method to pay the tax.

Property owners who fail to do so may be subject to a range of collection and enforcement actions by Revenue including mandatory deduction at source from salary or pension, Revenue said.

It also has powers to withhold a tax clearance certification, can apply surcharges on income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax returns, or can offset other tax refunds against local property tax (LPT) arrears.

All residential property owners were required to set up their 2023 payment method by January 10 at the latest, Revenue said.

Head of Revenue’s LPT section Katie Clair said: “However, some property owners haven’t yet paid or set up a payment arrangement and they now leave themselves open to collection and enforcement action by Revenue.”

She said €314m of the tax was collected in the first three months of this year.

The tax collection agency said the current payment compliance rate of 90pc shows that the vast majority of property owners have met their payment obligations.

Payment arrangements for 2023 LPT liabilities are in place on over 1.7 million properties, including 350,000 annual debit instructions debited on March 21 last.

However, large numbers continue to defy Revenue despite its extensive powers to force compliance.

Ms Clair said: “We have issued 150,000 letters to property owners who haven’t yet paid or set up a payment method to pay or make an arrangement to pay.”

She urged those property owners who have not made arrangements to pay their LPT to take immediate action and use this opportunity to ensure they are fully compliant with their LPT obligations.

“The easiest way to set up your LPT payment method is online. You can access the LPT online portal on revenue.ie.”

Revenue recently insisted it had not made a mistaken by sending threatening letters to some property owners claiming they had not paid the tax, or set up payment arrangements.

This is despite the fact that some of those receiving the letters insist they have made arrangements to pay the tax.

The homeowners say they have direct debits set up to pay the annual charge.

The latest LPT statistics from Revenue show that 54pc of homes in the State have been valued at under €262,500 for property tax purposes.

About 360,000 homeowners say their properties are worth less than the putative value put on them by tax officers.

The rules were changed for LPT last year, requiring a new valuation for homes, the first such request to revalue since 2013. And new homes that had been exempt from the tax where liable for LPT following the changes.

Property owners were required to determine the market value of their property as at last November 1, 2021.

Revenue said that if property owners need assistance in completing their LPT Return or have any queries regarding their LPT obligations, they can contact the LPT Helpline at 01 738 36 26.