JUST OVER 7,000 homeowners have completed their returns for the local property tax according to figures released by the Revenue Commissioners last night.

In total, the Revenue said that 5,567 electronic returns have been received as of yesterday with 1,436 submitting paper returns bringing to 7,003 the total number of returns that have been made to the Revenue in the two weeks since it began issuing letters.

In total Revenue says it has issued 714,470 local property tax letters to households across the country.

There have been 11,687 calls to its helpline with Revenue clarifying in response to a large number of queries that it had no role in relation to designating which properties are exempt from the tax because they are located in unfinished housing estates.

There have been over 688,500 hits on the valuation guidance website since it went live over a week ago. Revenue did not specify if ‘hits’ referred to page views or unique visitors.

Revenue also said in a statement last night that its estimate in the letters it is sending to homeowners is only relevant where a person does not complete and file their return.

“You don’t appeal the Revenue Estimate – you simply displace it by completing the return with your own estimate,” a statement said.

“This means that you self-assess the value of your property, complete the return, select a payment option and send it to Revenue. There is nothing to appeal.”

It also said that people should not ignore the letter as it will pursue collection of the estimate and has recommended that homeowners consult with its valuation guidance as well as guides available on Daft.ie, MyHome.ie and the Property Price Register.

“All you have to do is engage honestly and reasonably with the self assessment process,” the statement said.

Read: Property tax exemptions now available online

Week one: 579 people pay the property tax in its first week