The countdown is on…tomorrow the first of May, marks the date your property is valued for L.P.T. (local property tax) purposes.

This is a self assessment system which means YOU decide what the value of your property is worth. You therefore decide how much your property tax is going to be.

As you may know you can value it in bands..here is an extract from the Revenue website to guide you.

If the market value of your property is greater than €1 million you can use Revenue’s on-line LPT calculator to determine the amount of LPT you have to pay in 2013.

You have until 8th May to make this return – you’ll have to post it by Friday the 3rd really because of the weekend and bank holiday.You do not have to pay the charge yet – this can kick in from July.You have until the 28th May to make your return online.Its a pretty simple process and if you don’t have a PIN just click on the option ‘I do not receive a Pin‘ and away you go……You can elect to pay by direct debit / deduction from wages starting in July etc.

You also pay at the post office or over the phone 1890 200 255.They charge you over the counter and for an 1890 – online and paper is free…

So for now the important thing to do is file the return on time..No cost yet – just file it.

More to follow on this next week.