A ‘legislative blunder’ is being blamed for the imposition of the 5% Levy on some concrete products that had previously been exempted.
The anomaly arose when Revenue Commissioners began enforcing the Levy across the board from Friday last, September 1st, in the belief that it applied to all concrete products according to Independent Tipperary TD Michael Lowry.
Deputy Lowry says Revenue inadvertently included pre-cast concrete products which had been exempted from the additional charge. The Construction sector raised the issue with the Government leading to a decision to bring forward legislation to amend the situation and to provide for a refund of any levy charged due to the error. This legislation is expected to be in effect by January 1st 2024.
The controversial levy was introduced in the last Budget and was originally intended to come into effect in April at a rate of 10% targeted at 18 concrete products in addition to pouring concrete. The levy is intended to raise funds to pay for the MICA redress scheme in four counties – critics have pointed out that consumers across the county will pay the levy rather than the companies involved in selling the defective products or their insurance companies.
Additionally, they are calling on the Government to bring forward regulation of building materials to prevent a recurrence – the MICA Redress Scheme is expected to cost the State at least €2B.
