Non Principal Private Residence €200 Charge & Household €100 Charge Question

Lady Chatterton

When the household charge of €100 is introduced next year, will it be applied on top of the NPPR charge?

Paulw

Yes, looks like it will.

Leslie91

I've been trying to find confirmation of this too. I am renting out my NPPR apartment to help pay our rent on the house we are tenants in, incoming does not cover outgoing. So, I will be screwed for €300 p.a. now?.

Concerned Citizen 2014

Have recently got a bill for the non principal private residence tax of 4,220 (this is 200 euro per year plus 20 euro a month for each month we didn't pay). We own an apartment and had to move out when my wife was pregnant as the apartment didn't suit kids. We were never contacted and didn't hear anything about the NPPR tax but now are being billed and heavily penalised. We are being told that our bill will almost double in September if we don't pay up now. We are normally very proactive in paying bills and are extremely disappointed that we now have this bill that we knew nothing about. We feel that we are being taxed and penalised for having a baby. What is going on in Ireland, is there any advice out there that will help?

loyatemu

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

Have recently got a bill for the non principal private residence tax of 4,220 (this is 200 euro per year plus 20 euro a month for each month we didn't pay). We own an apartment and had to move out when my wife was pregnant as the apartment didn't suit kids. We were never contacted and didn't hear anything about the NPPR tax but now are being billed and heavily penalised. We are being told that our bill will almost double in September if we don't pay up now. We are normally very proactive in paying bills and are extremely disappointed that we now have this bill that we knew nothing about. We feel that we are being taxed and penalised for having a baby. What is going on in Ireland, is there any advice out there that will help?

are you living abroad now?

Concerned Citizen 2014

no, renting a house thirty minutes away as we needed the room for our kids.

murphaph

I'm afraid not. We all accept that ignorance of the law is no excuse blah blah and there must be some penalty imposed for failure to pay taxes due, including the NPPR BUT the equivalent interest rates charged would make a back street money lender blush. The interest and penalties Revenue charge by comparison to income tax evaders is a fraction of that charged to the NPPR defaulter. It is grossly unfair, but there is no escape as the local authorities have no power of discretion. They may agree to an installment plan, but that's about the height of it. Sorry :-(

You'll get people coming on saying any penalty is fair etc. but those same people won't usually agree to making all parking or speeding tickets €1000.

loyatemu

the NPPR charge was pretty well publicised at the time, and in subsequent literature regarding the LPT, you won't get anywhere claiming ignorance of it.

murphaph

loyatemu wrote: »

are you living abroad now?

Wouldn't make any difference anyway. The debt is rolled into the property tax and Revenue will eventually get it when the property is sold or bequeathed. Non-residents are just as liable for the NPPR, HHC and LPT as residents.

godtabh

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

We were never contacted and didn't hear anything about the NPPR tax

Do you live under a rock?

Massive paper and radio campaigns about the tax each year prior to payment date and before the end of the payment date. Even once recently about an opportunity to pay up without further penalties.

Leslie91

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

no, renting a house thirty minutes away as we needed the room for our kids.

I was in the exact same boat but learned about this tax much earlier than you. I even got to the local TD and the local county council manager and got nowhere. There was no appeal structure built into the scandalous legislation.

It is incredible, like you say, that someone is being punished so harshly for choosing to make a move they wanted to for their family.

I have no problem with the tax per se it is the fact that the penalties were so harsh. This tax was meant for landlords with multiple properties, not for you and me and yet we got screwed to the wall.

Sorry I don't have any good news.

Leslie91

godtabh wrote: »

Do you live under a rock?

Massive paper and radio campaigns about the tax each year prior to payment date and before the end of the payment date. Even once recently about an opportunity to pay up without further penalties.

That's a bit harsh...

There are many more like OP and myself who have got caught by this tax. We are not all blind or living under a rock, nor did we try to avoid it. I was more than willing to pay it when I learnt about it but the penalties like someone above so eloquently put it would make a money lender blush.

No appeal process either, a real Hogan stroke.

Concerned Citizen 2014

This is great I wasn't expecting any response! I don't live under a rock. I haven't received anything from the massive paper campaign and mustn't listen to advertisements on radio, however if I received one bill over the past few years I would have paid the bill. I suppose I wasn't really expecting that if I buy a property and decide to move out that I will be taxed for not living there....does this mean that if I stop using my car I am going to have to pay the government some tax?

loyatemu

Leslie91 wrote: »

It is incredible, like you say, that someone is being punished so harshly for choosing to make a move they wanted to for their family.

he's being punished for not paying the tax - he could have paid it 3 years go & it would have been just €200

Leslie91

loyatemu wrote: »

he's being punished for not paying the tax - he could have paid it 3 years go & it would have been just €200

It's the level of penalty I have the issue with... not the fact that one is being punished.

HcksawJimDuggan

does this mean that if I stop using my car I am going to have to pay the government some tax?

Provided you declare in advance that your vehicle will be off the road and not in use for a period of between 3 and 12 months you won't have any motor tax to pay. However, the declaration of non-use must be made in the same month that your current motor tax disc expires. If arrears in motor tax are due these must be paid in full and you must also pay a minimum of 3 months motor tax, before a declaration of non-use can be made.

It's a cruel world.

Concerned Citizen 2014

I really don't understand the tax. My wife queried the amount due and looked into after we had received the bill and apparently if a family member is staying in the property you are exempt from paying the tax. While this again doesn't make sense we were delighted as my sister was minding the apartment for nearly two years, however we were told that as we lived more than 2km from the property we still had to pay the tax. This is the only property that we own and we didn't buy it to become a landlord.

mrsbyrne

I think the capital sum you owe must be paid immediately and in full. The penalties fines interest etc can be stage payments afalk but only if you show inability to pay.
Like every revenue dept in the world you owe it you will pay it .
If you don't engage with them they will go straight into your bank account and take it out.
Ring today and avoid any more hassle.
Once again the NPPR and LPT and Household Charge has been all over the media for 3 years. Its hard to understand how you didn't at least wonder if your second property was liable for taxes.

Leslie91

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

I really don't understand the tax. My wife queried the amount due and looked into after we had received the bill and apparently if a family member is staying in the property you are exempt from paying the tax. While this again doesn't make sense we were delighted as my sister was minding the apartment for nearly two years, however we were told that as we lived more than 2km from the property we still had to pay the tax. This is the only property that we own and we didn't buy it to become a landlord.

It's gas really... this distance from property and family member living in it lark.... never did this get said to me. The county councils/govt seem to make it up as they go along.

The tax is fair in that the intention was to extract some money from big landlords (who of course got it from the poor tenants anyway). But of course it applied to all NPPR owners like you and I.

Sounds like you might make some progress on getting the liability reduced, but the chances of you getting it completely squashed are nil. Try making them an offer you think is fair and see what they say, based on (1) the time your sister was in it and (2) the dates that she was there.

athtrasna

Leslie91 wrote: »

That's a bit harsh...

There are many more like OP and myself who have got caught by this tax. We are not all blind or living under a rock, nor did we try to avoid it. I was more than willing to pay it when I learnt about it but the penalties like someone above so eloquently put it would make a money lender blush.

No appeal process either, a real Hogan stroke.

Two things, the penalty was deliberately made high to encourage compliance and to punish those who didn't pay. And it has nothing to do with Phil Hogan, the law was brought in by Fianna Fail!!

godtabh

I've paid my NPPR. I never received any notice. Dont see how anyone could claim not to have heard of it given the widespread publicity surrounding it.

Leslie91

athtrasna wrote: »

Two things, the penalty was deliberately made high to encourage compliance and to punish those who didn't pay. And it has nothing to do with Phil Hogan, the law was brought in by Fianna Fail!!

Yep I know... was just pointing out the stroke pulled setting up NPPR without appeals process was v like something Hogan would be proud of.

athtrasna

Leslie91 wrote: »

Yep I know... was just pointing out the stroke pulled setting up NPPR without appeals process was v like something Hogan would be proud of.

I think that's unfair. And the fact is Hogan actually abolished the NPPR!

Roanmore

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

Have recently got a bill for the non principal private residence tax of 4,220 (this is 200 euro per year plus 20 euro a month for each month we didn't pay). We own an apartment and had to move out when my wife was pregnant as the apartment didn't suit kids. We were never contacted and didn't hear anything about the NPPR tax but now are being billed and heavily penalised. We are being told that our bill will almost double in September if we don't pay up now. We are normally very proactive in paying bills and are extremely disappointed that we now have this bill that we knew nothing about. We feel that we are being taxed and penalised for having a baby. What is going on in Ireland, is there any advice out there that will help?

How is your bill 4200? This came in in 2009 (I think), that's 5 years - €1000.
€20 euro a month - 240 a year, or €1200 in total. That's a total of €2200.
Am I calculating it wrong?

Concerned Citizen 2014

No you are calculating it appropriately, they have added in additional charges as we didn't pay on time.

Leslie91

athtrasna wrote: »

I think that's unfair. And the fact is Hogan actually abolished the NPPR!

Yep... then re-named it household charge/property tax, increased the cost and extended to everybody.

athtrasna

Leslie91 wrote: »

Yep... then re-named it household charge/property tax, increased the cost and extended to everybody.

Which was agreed by FF with the Troika! Every Western country has some sort of property tax, it was something that had to be brought in whether we liked it or not.

The bottom line is that this NPPR was brought in, advertised widely and yet evaded on a large scale. Evasion either on purpose or by accident but evasion no less. I for one am glad that it's being pursued, the more money this brings to the exchequer the less they're going to have to increase the tax I pay. Just because you're not asked to pay a tax, it doesn't mean you're not liable to pay. There's an element of self-education involved.

The recession caused a lot of people (myself included) to become "accidental landlords". The level of research and compliance varies hugely across those people. We paid an accountant to do our tax returns and make sure that we were compliant. Not necessary but it was worth it for peace of mind. Others did that all themselves, others deliberately decided not to pay taxes, others didn't even think of the tax implications.

jmaycock

loyatemu wrote: »

the NPPR charge was pretty well publicised at the time, and in subsequent literature regarding the LPT, you won't get anywhere claiming ignorance of it.

So what?! Why should they wait years before sending out a bill? A ridiculous state of affairs. Disgraceful. And then they add a ridiculous amount of fines on top of the bill. Criminal. Don't stand for this. Organise and cause maximum disruption and embarrassment. Maybe then the officials involved can get their own house in order and send out timely bills. Unbelievable….

jmaycock

godtabh wrote: »

I've paid my NPPR. I never received any notice. Dont see how anyone could claim not to have heard of it given the widespread publicity surrounding it.

Maybe some people don't listen to crap radio? And in any case if someone owed me money I would send them a bill. Not assume they know they owe me money. Get off your high horse you piece of s%&t.

athtrasna

jmaycock wrote: »

So what?! Why should they wait years before sending out a bill? A ridiculous state of affairs. Disgraceful. And then they add a ridiculous amount of fines on top of the bill. Criminal. Don't stand for this. Organise and cause maximum disruption and embarrassment. Maybe then the officials involved can get their own house in order and send out timely bills. Unbelievable….

It was always the responsibility of the individual to pay the charge. From its inception it was advertised as you must register and pay. It's like the prtb, nobody sends you a registration form but as a landlord it's your responsibility to register. Bills are being sent out to those people who failed in their obligation to pay the NPPR and there are perfectly legal but very high penalties. If the landlord had paid in the first place this wouldn't be an issue!

The_Morrigan

jmaycock wrote: »

Maybe some people don't listen to crap radio? And in any case if someone owed me money I would send them a bill. Not assume they know they owe me money. Get off your high horse you piece of s%&t.

Anymore outbursts like this from anyone and there will be consequences.

Grandpa Hassan

jmaycock wrote: »

Maybe some people don't listen to crap radio? And in any case if someone owed me money I would send them a bill. Not assume they know they owe me money. Get off your high horse you piece of s%&t.

Come on....it was everywhere. Tabloids, broadsheets, radio, tv, news. You're seriously saying that you never paid attention to any of these? Most people who own property pay a little attention to what obligations might be associated with it. I'll be joining many of the others who are light on sympathy....

Geuze

jmaycock wrote: »

Maybe some people don't listen to crap radio? And in any case if someone owed me money I would send them a bill. Not assume they know they owe me money. Get off your high horse you piece of s%&t.

It would have been impossible for the Councils to send out NPPR bills, as they don't have a database of NPPR houses.

If there are 50,000 houses in a county, there is no list of which are PPR and which are not PPRs.

So there is no way of identifying who is liable.

It was a self-assessment tax.

Concerned Citizen 2014

Maybe I'm not making myself totally clear here. People are saying that the fact that it is a self assessed tax we should have known about it. The property tax was a self assessed tax and we received a letter concerning it first. My issue is with the fact that we have received a letter suddenly telling us we owe such a huge amount that is in large penalties for something we would have paid on time had we known about it.We were registered with the prtb every time a new lease was needed and, as for the person above who made a comment about people who own a second property not knowing about the charge, we do not own a second property. We rent, hence, if we had ever had the good fortune to hear of this tax we most likely would have raised our eyebrows at the fact that you're being penalised when you have no choice but to live away from the only property we chose to buy.As for the "people who chose to do it for themselves" ie rent out without professional help, we could not afford to seek professional help, we struggle with a mortgage, management fees, repairs, rent and bills in general. In summary, we are not trying to get out of a bill, we may be idiots for not having twigged this tax but we do not feel its fair to pay such horrendous penalties. As for all the holier than thou attitudes, please lighten up, we're just looking for help, we are already as close to the floor as we can get because of our boom time purchase, which we assumed would be somewhere we'd sell on should we decide to have a family, we have never shunned our responsibilities financially and yet here we are, getting beaten down further!

athtrasna

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

Maybe I'm not making myself totally clear here. People are saying that the fact that it is a self assessed tax we should have known about it. The property tax was a self assessed tax and we received a letter concerning it first. My issue is with the fact that we have received a letter suddenly telling us we owe such a huge amount that is in large penalties for something we would have paid on time had we known about it.

The answer is in this post below. It's possible to know a property exists, knowing whether it's a PPR or not is not simple. Revenue and the PRTB didn't talk at the time and the PRTB database is notoriously out of date anyway. The question I'd have is how did they find out in the end?

Geuze wrote: »

It would have been impossible for the Councils to send out NPPR bills, as they don't have a database of NPPR houses.

If there are 50,000 houses in a county, there is no list of which are PPR and which are not PPRs.

So there is no way of identifying who is liable.

It was a self-assessment tax.

mrsbyrne

I hope you don't think I'm being holier then thou. I'm just trying to advise you. The facts are this. If you were very wealthy you could try to mount a legal challenge to the fines and penalties.. the case would drag on for yearsinto Brussels and probably ultimately fail leaving you with a huge legal bill as well as the NPPR.
your clearly not wealthy so that's out.
The government drafted legislation which was passed into law which basically says that this was a self assessment tax, that the penalties would be imposed.in my opinion it was very well advertised and discussed and dissected at length across the media.
You have until 31 August to discuss payment terms with your local authority. After that if you still have done nothing the amount you owe jumps to over €7000. Next year you will be paying water charges, but you will get a bill, you just need to take on board from now on to be conscious of your water usage .

Concerned Citizen 2014

Thanks, we have been in contact and have been advised to contact them after our scheduled meeting with mabs. Pity education doesn't prepare you for the harsh reality of life,eh?You never think you'll become the "squeezed middle," teetering and just about hitting the upper end of poverty(still have roof(s;)) over our head, food,can just about manage kids doctors bills etc.)Guess we'll be proceeding as we expected then...no respite!;)

Geuze

mrsbyrne wrote: »

I
The government drafted legislation which was passed into law which basically says that this was a self assessment tax, that the penalties would be imposed.in my opinion it was very well advertised and discussed and dissected at length across the media.

I agree that the HHC and LPT were widely discussed.

But I say that the NPPR was not widely discussed in the media, as it was seen as a "second house tax" (not quite true).

So I am not surprised that there are thousands of people not in compliance with the NPPR tax.

mrsbyrne

Many of the people getting these bills now did in fact know they were liable but felt they were evading it successfully, for 5 years, and felt that they had been successfully in this evasion considering the NPPR was declared abolished last year.
The NPPR was announced at least a year before it came into being and there were frequent reminders in the form of public service announcements on the TV and radio and in the national papers for 6 years.Its incredible that people knew about the HC and the LPT but not the NPPR.

Roanmore

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

No you are calculating it appropriately, they have added in additional charges as we didn't pay on time.

I thought the additional charges was the 20 euro a month for every month it wasn't paid, are there additional charges on top of this?

murphaph

As I said in my opener...if it's about "forcing compliance" then why don't we apply the same sort of rates to ALL offences, just to make sure we get compliance like?

Parking and speeding tickets are clearly way too lenient...should be a few grand to make sure we get compliance!

Grandpa Hassan

Roanmore wrote: »

I thought the additional charges was the 20 euro a month for every month it wasn't paid, are there additional charges on top of this?

I think you are thinking of the household charge

Grandpa Hassan

murphaph wrote: »

As I said in my opener...if it's about "forcing compliance" then why don't we apply the same sort of rates to ALL offences, just to make sure we get compliance like?

Parking and speeding tickets are clearly way too lenient...should be a few grand to make sure we get compliance!

Don't suggest it....I am sure that there are plenty of people that think we should!

jmaycock

athtrasna wrote: »

Which was agreed by FF with the Troika! Every Western country has some sort of property tax, it was something that had to be brought in whether we liked it or not.

The bottom line is that this NPPR was brought in, advertised widely and yet evaded on a large scale. Evasion either on purpose or by accident but evasion no less. I for one am glad that it's being pursued, the more money this brings to the exchequer the less they're going to have to increase the tax I pay. Just because you're not asked to pay a tax, it doesn't mean you're not liable to pay. There's an element of self-education involved.

The recession caused a lot of people (myself included) to become "accidental landlords". The level of research and compliance varies hugely across those people. We paid an accountant to do our tax returns and make sure that we were compliant. Not necessary but it was worth it for peace of mind. Others did that all themselves, others deliberately decided not to pay taxes, others didn't even think of the tax implications.

Yes, others, like concerned citizen didn't purposefully evade the tax, they just didn't think about it/know about it.

In my opinion it is a sham and a shame that the government get to wait 4 years before sending a first bill which is laden with overdue charges and penalties. And don't tell me that that is the law and the responsibility is with citizens to know what taxes they should be paying. I KNOW THAT. It doesn't make it right.

Reminds me of the difference between pirates and emperors…

jmaycock

athtrasna wrote: »

It was always the responsibility of the individual to pay the charge. From its inception it was advertised as you must register and pay. It's like the prtb, nobody sends you a registration form but as a landlord it's your responsibility to register. Bills are being sent out to those people who failed in their obligation to pay the NPPR and there are perfectly legal but very high penalties. If the landlord had paid in the first place this wouldn't be an issue!

What is it - state the obvious day? I am perfectly aware of the law. THAT IS NOT MY POINT. This poor unfortunate fellow has been hit with a bill ringing in at 422% more than the original tax was meant to bring in. His only crime was ignorance of the existence of such a law.

Now I know that "It was always the responsibility of the individual to pay the charge" yada yada yada. You tell me what other organisation gets away with this PERFECTLY LEGAL criminality. Tell me. No one. The government and tax authorities should be made to send out bills if they want to receive money. Or reminders that as a landlord you need to make sure to pay the NPPR etc. etc.

And citizens should unite to insist on this. Take to the streets. Don't stand for it.

Disgraceful disgraceful disgraceful. Shame Shame Shame.

Take to the streets. Take to the media. Stand up to this shower of incompetent losers.

I mean, it took them 4 years. 4 YEARS???????

Why not send the bill after the FIRST year?

I'll tell you why. Because they are a terribly incompetent bunch of wasters.

jmaycock

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

Come on....it was everywhere. Tabloids, broadsheets, radio, tv, news. You're seriously saying that you never paid attention to any of these? Most people who own property pay a little attention to what obligations might be associated with it. I'll be joining many of the others who are light on sympathy....

I knew about it. So what. I am not the person who was hit with a bill 4 years late and 422% of amount due.

Can you for just a moment explain to me why it took the tax authorities 4 years to get themselves together enough to send this bill out? First year passes, pass the sugar Paddy while I drink ANOTHER CUP OF TEA.

Bunch of absolute wasters.

People have to start demanding changes to things that are quite clearly ridiculous.

Governments should be afraid of their people - not the other way around.

jmaycock

Geuze wrote: »

It would have been impossible for the Councils to send out NPPR bills, as they don't have a database of NPPR houses.

If there are 50,000 houses in a county, there is no list of which are PPR and which are not PPRs.

So there is no way of identifying who is liable.

It was a self-assessment tax.

What a stupid stupid excuse. Excuses. That is all I hear.

If you are correct, how did they receive a bill 4 years later. What event occurred which meant that suddenly the Council knew who they were. Why did this gem of information take 4 years to TURN INTO A BILL????

Answer me that if you can.

jmaycock

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

Maybe I'm not making myself totally clear here. People are saying that the fact that it is a self assessed tax we should have known about it. The property tax was a self assessed tax and we received a letter concerning it first. My issue is with the fact that we have received a letter suddenly telling us we owe such a huge amount that is in large penalties for something we would have paid on time had we known about it.We were registered with the prtb every time a new lease was needed and, as for the person above who made a comment about people who own a second property not knowing about the charge, we do not own a second property. We rent, hence, if we had ever had the good fortune to hear of this tax we most likely would have raised our eyebrows at the fact that you're being penalised when you have no choice but to live away from the only property we chose to buy.As for the "people who chose to do it for themselves" ie rent out without professional help, we could not afford to seek professional help, we struggle with a mortgage, management fees, repairs, rent and bills in general. In summary, we are not trying to get out of a bill, we may be idiots for not having twigged this tax but we do not feel its fair to pay such horrendous penalties. As for all the holier than thou attitudes, please lighten up, we're just looking for help, we are already as close to the floor as we can get because of our boom time purchase, which we assumed would be somewhere we'd sell on should we decide to have a family, we have never shunned our responsibilities financially and yet here we are, getting beaten down further!

Hear hear.

I will stand with you and fight this thing. Tell me what you need.

I love a good fight.

Grandpa Hassan

jmaycock wrote: »

I knew about it. So what. I am not the person who was hit with a bill 4 years late and 422% of amount due.

Can you for just a moment explain to me why it took the tax authorities 4 years to get themselves together enough to send this bill out? First year passes, pass the sugar Paddy while I drink ANOTHER CUP OF TEA.

Bunch of absolute wasters.

People have to start demanding changes to things that are quite clearly ridiculous.

Governments should be afraid of their people - not the other way around.

They did not have a database to chase people up. They could not send bills, nor could they send reminders, as they did not know who was subject to the tax.....did not know who was not living in the home that they owned. So it was 100% self assessment.

How they have subseqently tracked people down, I have no idea. An organisation somewhere must have shared information, to allow them cross reference residence against ownership

Leslie91

Concerned Citizen 2014 wrote: »

Maybe I'm not making myself totally clear here. People are saying that the fact that it is a self assessed tax we should have known about it. The property tax was a self assessed tax and we received a letter concerning it first. My issue is with the fact that we have received a letter suddenly telling us we owe such a huge amount that is in large penalties for something we would have paid on time had we known about it.We were registered with the prtb every time a new lease was needed and, as for the person above who made a comment about people who own a second property not knowing about the charge, we do not own a second property. We rent, hence, if we had ever had the good fortune to hear of this tax we most likely would have raised our eyebrows at the fact that you're being penalised when you have no choice but to live away from the only property we chose to buy.As for the "people who chose to do it for themselves" ie rent out without professional help, we could not afford to seek professional help, we struggle with a mortgage, management fees, repairs, rent and bills in general. In summary, we are not trying to get out of a bill, we may be idiots for not having twigged this tax but we do not feel its fair to pay such horrendous penalties. As for all the holier than thou attitudes, please lighten up, we're just looking for help, we are already as close to the floor as we can get because of our boom time purchase, which we assumed would be somewhere we'd sell on should we decide to have a family, we have never shunned our responsibilities financially and yet here we are, getting beaten down further!

I'll second the PRTB thing. Like you we registered for that also, you'd think NPPR and the PRTB shower would communicate with each other wouldn't you?

Nope.... it is incredulous how their incompetence is pushed onto the likes of us who are/were trying to make a go of it. I see someone else has mentioned that the PRTB DB is madly out of date. Why is this I wonder?, what are we paying for at all?...... nothing in return simple as.

Good luck with getting some fair treatment.

mrsbyrne

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

They did not have a database to chase people up. They could not send bills, nor could they send reminders, as they did not know who was subject to the tax.....did not know who was not living in the home that they owned. So it was 100% self assessment.

How they have subseqently tracked people down, I have no idea. An organisation somewhere must have shared information, to allow them cross reference residence against ownership

It was easy to track them down. Once the OP paid the LPT on the property, then it became apparent that it was a NPPR.