Writing off rent

[33cl]

I currently own an apartment and am receiving in the region of 950/month for it in rent. The house I live in at the moment I am in turn paying out 1350/month on rent. Since the apartment income will be taxed and I'll lose about 350 of it per month to the govt (because it'll be taxed in the higher band after job income), is there any way I can weasel out of paying the tax on the apartment because I myself am paying rent. i.e. can I write off the rent I pay against the rent I receive?

My landlord himself says he wont be paying tax on the 1350 I give him every month, which presumably is highly illegal.

 

[Graham_07]

A rent tax credit is available to those in private rented accommodation. The following give the details.


www.revenue.ie/forms/rent1.pdf

www.revenue.ie/revguide/renttaxcredit.htm


You cannot offset rent received against rent paid.

For the apartment you own I assume you are aware of the reliefs available to rental income, i.e. mortgage/insurance/repairs etc can be set against the rent received. NB the property must be registered with the PRTB for mortgage interest relief to be given. ( you may already know all of this) just to minimise your tax exposure there.

 

[ClubMan]

My landlord himself says he wont be paying tax on the 1350 I give him every month, which presumably is highly illegal.

Yes - unless he is somehow exempt on this income (e.g. writing off capital expenditure on the property against rental income as some schemes allow). If you claim your rented accomodation tax credit as you are entitled to then this may help Revenue to identify tax evasion if any is going on.

 

[33cl]

A rent tax credit is available to those in private rented accommodation. The following give the details.


www.revenue.ie/forms/rent1.pdf

www.revenue.ie/revguide/renttaxcredit.htm


You cannot offset rent received against rent paid.

For the apartment you own I assume you are aware of the reliefs available to rental income, i.e. mortgage/insurance/repairs etc can be set against the rent received. NB the property must be registered with the PRTB for mortgage interest relief to be given. ( you may already know all of this) just to minimise your tax exposure there.

Thanks lads, yes someone did mention the PRTB before but havent registered details yet. There's also hefty maintenance fee of €1600/year on the apartment which presumably can be deducted against the rental income aswell.

If I did claim the rented accom. tax relief, that would mean in essence exposing the landlord, whom I do enjoy a good relationship with. What are the fines for non pyment of these types of income?

 

[33cl]

** non pyment of tax

 

[ClubMan]

TThere's also hefty maintenance fee of €1600/year on the apartment which presumably can be deducted against the rental income aswell.

I think so but you should get independent, professional advice when preparing your returns.

If I did claim the rented accom. tax relief, that would mean in essence exposing the landlord, whom I do enjoy a good relationship with. What are the fines for non pyment of these types of income?

Well discharge of any outstanding liabilities for a start. Interest and penalties would be a possibility. Criminal prosecution is also an option.