It was a flat-rate charge of €100 on each principal private residence, and acted as a precursor for the local property tax.
It was a flat-rate charge of €200, that was payable respect of residential property that was not the owner's only or main residence.
It was an annual tax, charged at the rate of 1.5% per annum on the portion of the market value of an owner-occupied house which was greater than (in 1996) £101,000, as long as the household income exceeded £30,100.
This means that the exemption from RPT was possible in the case of property such as Charles Haughey's Kinsealy mansion—partially open for the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day.
Rates were used by local authorities to provide services such as mains water and refuse collection.
Rates for private residences were abolished in 1977, with local authorities instead receiving funding from central government.