# Rent tax credit : €500 from 2022 i.e. this year



## Brendan Burgess (27 Sep 2022)

Help to Buy being kept under review.  An independent report being published today.  Keeping it until 2024

Rent tax credit : €500

Pre letting expenses regime doubled to €10,000  and reducing period of vacancy from 12 months to 6 months.


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## Brendan Burgess (27 Sep 2022)

Rental Tax Credit​For those taxpayers who are paying rent on their principal private residence, I am introducing a new rent tax credit valued at €500 per year.
This measure, aimed at those who do not get any other housing supports, will apply for 2023 and subsequent tax years but I am providing that it may also be claimed in respect of rent paid in 2022.
Approximately 400,000 persons are expected to benefit. Further details are contained in the Budget documentation.


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## Brendan Burgess (27 Sep 2022)

Vacant Homes Tax​Maximising the use of existing housing stock is also a key objective of this government.
Accordingly, I am introducing a Vacant Homes Tax to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase to meet demand.
The tax will apply to residential properties which are occupied for less than 30 days in a twelve month period. There will be a number of exemptions to ensure that owners are not unfairly charged where the property may be vacant for a genuine reason.
The tax will operate on a self-assessment basis and will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners. The tax will be charged at a rate equal to three times the property’s existing basic Local Property Tax rate.
Residential Zoned Land Tax​In Budget 2022 I announced a Residential Zoned Land Tax.
In order to identify zoned land within the scope of the tax, maps are currently being prepared by Local Authorities who will publish their first draft maps on the 1st of November this year. Following the publication of the maps, any person will have the opportunity to apply to their Local Authority to have the zoning status of their land amended as part of a variation process.
In Finance Bill 2022 I will bring forward a number of amendments to streamline the operation of the Residential Zoned Land Tax and ensure it is efficiently administered.
Residential Development Stamp Duty​I also propose to extend the Residential Development Stamp Duty Refund Scheme to the end of 2025.
In place since 2017, this is a scheme whereby a portion of the stamp duty paid on the acquisition of non-residential land is refunded where that land is subsequently developed for residential purposes.
The net minimum stamp duty payable after a refund is 2 per cent, whereas the normal rate for non-residential property is 7½ per cent. To the end of 2021, this scheme had been availed of in respect of projects that have delivered over 15,000 residential units.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (27 Sep 2022)

Brendan Burgess said:


> The tax will apply to residential properties which are occupied for less than 30 days in a twelve month period. There will be a number of exemptions to ensure that owners are not unfairly charged where the property may be vacant for a genuine reason.


Seamus Coffey looked at this and in most cases where a reason could be discerned it was things like: renovation, bereavement, resident nursing home, house on the market, etc.

Good luck taxing those.....


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## Mocame (27 Sep 2022)

The vacant homes tax will achieve very little.  Derelict properties (unfit for human habitation) are exempt from property tax in any case.  For holiday homes - occupying them for more than six weeks a year is not a very high car to hit even without letting then out, surely this could be easily organised between a group of family and friends.  In addition most holiday homes are in rural areas where property tax is low.  And of course it is self declared.  Bit of a joke really.


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## elcato (27 Sep 2022)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Pre letting expenses regime doubled to €10,000 and _reducing period of vacancy from 12 months to 6 months._


What does the second bit mean ?


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## NoRegretsCoyote (27 Sep 2022)

elcato said:


> What does the second bit mean ?




The current rules (see below) mean that a property has to have been vacant for 12 months for the landlord to claim pre-letting expenses. This will be halved.




> The section applies to expenditure on a premises which has been vacant for at least twelve months and which is subsequently let as a residential premises between 25 December 2017 (the date of the passing of Finance Act 2017) and 31 December 2024. A ‘vacant premises’ means any premises that is not occupied for the entire twelve months before the ‘specified day’. The ‘specified day’ means the day on or after 25 December 2017 on which a vacant premises is first let as a residential premises following the end of the period during which it was not occupied.


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## AJAM (27 Sep 2022)

Step 1. Government give 500 euro to everyone to spend on rent.
Step 2. Rents go up by 500 euro.
Step 3......eh Government give 500 euro to everyone to spend on rent.


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## Paddy1981 (27 Sep 2022)

AJAM said:


> Step 1. Government give 500 euro to everyone to spend on rent.
> Step 2. Rents go up by 500 euro.
> Step 3......eh Government give 500 euro to everyone to spend on rent.


Sound about right!


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## Zebedee (27 Sep 2022)

The previous rent allowance was also  a good way of smoking out non tax paying landlords. The tenants needed landlords ppsn to claim. I don’t know what details are required this time around.


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## AndroidMan (27 Sep 2022)

Does this apply to tenants that are on a rent a room agreement?
Will that tenant be able to avail of this?


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## Brendan Burgess (27 Sep 2022)

AJAM said:


> Step 2. Rents go up by 500 euro.



Most rents are controlled so Step 2 won't happen.

Brendan


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## DannyBoyD (27 Sep 2022)

AndroidMan said:


> Does this apply to tenants that are on a rent a room agreement?
> Will that tenant be able to avail of this?


It's not clear from what has been published so far; the note refers to 'PPR' and I believe there will be a requirement for the tenancy to be registered with RTB, which isn't the case currently for rent a room.


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## DannyBoyD (27 Sep 2022)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Most rents are controlled so Step 2 won't happen.
> 
> Brendan


A 2% increase on annual rent almost anywhere in the country would easily be €500?


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## Sunny (27 Sep 2022)

Does anyone know if this credit is per household or per taxpayer. Myself and wife are assessed separately for tax. Are we both entitled to claim it?

EDIT: Just see it is expected to be on a individual basis except for married couples or people in civil partnerships. I presume that means we are assessed individually, we are both entitled to claim it.


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## DannyBoyD (27 Sep 2022)

Sunny said:


> Does anyone know if this credit is per household or per taxpayer. Myself and wife are assessed separately for tax. Are we both entitled to claim it?


Interesting question; my guess (and it is only a guess at present) is that if they go down the 'registered with RTB' route, it will be the person (s) named on the tenancy who can claim the credit.


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## DannyBoyD (27 Sep 2022)

Sunny said:


> Does anyone know if this credit is per household or per taxpayer. Myself and wife are assessed separately for tax. Are we both entitled to claim it?
> 
> EDIT: Just see it is expected to be on a individual basis except for married couples or people in civil partnerships. I presume that means we are assessed individually, we are both entitled to claim it.


do you have a link?


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## Sunny (27 Sep 2022)

DannyBoyD said:


> do you have a link?











						New tax credit worth €500 to be introduced for renters
					

The tax credit can be claimed for 2022.




					www.thejournal.ie
				




Heard someone from KPMG on  the radio say they confirmed it as well but we will see..... Devil is always in the detail


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## FANTANA (27 Sep 2022)

Can you get it if you are living in a “rent a room scheme” setup?


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## DannyBoyD (27 Sep 2022)

according to link posted by Sunny (and as I guessed myself) - "and the landlord must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)"

if you are renting rooms shared in your home, you don't need to register with RTB


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## Groucho (27 Sep 2022)

DannyBoyD said:


> A 2% increase on annual rent almost anywhere in the country would easily be €500?



Are annual rents really running at an average of €25,000?


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## FANTANA (27 Sep 2022)

DannyBoyD said:


> according to link posted by Sunny (and as I guessed myself) - "and the landlord must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)"
> 
> if you are renting rooms shared in your home, you don't need to register with RTB


So anyone in digs, rent a room out of luck. Would argue these people would often be the hardest pressed income wise.


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## Sunny (27 Sep 2022)

Groucho said:


> Are annual rents really running at an average of €25,000?



I am renting a place while building a home. Very average 3 bed in North County Dublin. €2200 per month or over €26k a year.....


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## qwerty5 (28 Sep 2022)

Explainer: There's a new Rental Tax Credit, how can I avail of it and when will it be paid?
					

Does my landlord need to be registered? What if I’m on HAP?




					www.thejournal.ie
				




Will I need to provide proof of the rent I pay?​The Department of Finance say that rent-a-room arrangements and student accommodations where the property is your principal private residence and where you pay sufficient rent (rent paid of €2,500 in a tax year) would also be sufficient to avail of the full credit.

and from the same article..
Does my landlord need to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board?​A thorny question for a country in the middle of a housing crisis.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe told reporters yesterday that yes, your landlord must be registered, while Minister for Housing Daragh O’Brien has said that a tenant will “claim it on the basis of the registered tenancy number that they have”.


People who rent out a room in their house don't have to register with the RTB. (https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/registering_a_tenancy.html)
Well they don't currently anyway.


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## jasdpace@gmail. (28 Sep 2022)

Say in relation to student accommodation, the student himself would need to have sufficient income for the rental credit to be material - is this correct?


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## Groucho (28 Sep 2022)

Sunny said:


> I am renting a place while building a home. Very average 3 bed in North County Dublin. €2200 per month or over €26k a year.....


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

You would have though they would do something to regulate and monitor compliance in the rent a room sector. Some landlords letting full homes, not residing and getting a lot of tax free income. They can also up the rent as they are not controlled.


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> You would have though they would do something to regulate and monitor compliance in the rent a room sector. Some landlords letting full homes, not residing and getting a lot of tax free income. They can also up the rent as they are not controlled.


Hasn't their regulation and monitoring done enough harm everywhere else?


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## DannyBoyD (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> landlords letting full homes, not residing and getting a lot of tax free income


is there any evidence this is actually happening?

I suspect, what's more likely is that owners are getting a lot more than 14k a year.  €700/800 for a room in a house share is not unheard of these days.


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

T McGibney said:


> Hasn't their regulation and monitoring done enough harm everywhere else?


I will agree with you there. I meant effective regulation.


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> I will agree with you there. I meant effective regulation.


The problem is that it is all too effective.


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

DannyBoyD said:


> is there any evidence this is actually happening?
> 
> I suspect, what's more likely is that owners are getting a lot more than 14k a year.  €700/800 for a room in a house share is not unheard of these days.


There was a recent post on another forum. Poster wanted to get licencee out of his PPR to give room a relative. Stated he lived elsewhere in Ireland and had not lived in the house for years. However, they kept a mattress in a room, somewhere in the house (that was not a bedroom) so they could stay there if they wanted. House had 4 beds and there was at least 4 people there. Owner claimed to be fair on rent, only 800 a room, but could charge more. That's over 30k a year. No way owner is registered as they were insisting it was their PPR, completely ignoring that to avail of rent a room, you must live there. 
This is one case, but there are more. How do you measure what is not measurable, known etc.
I have no issue with Rent-a-Room, but wonder whether it should still be tax free. Its not earned income and why should it not be taxable?


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

T McGibney said:


> The problem is that it is all too effective.


I am lost. Effective regulation would be fit for purpose and implement/managed etc. A lot of our regulation is not fit for purpose and therefoe ineffective. Or am I on the wrong page altogether?


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> There was a recent post on another forum. Poster wanted to get licencee out of his PPR to give room a relative. Stated he lived elsewhere in Ireland and had not lived in the house for years. However, they kept a mattress in a room, somewhere in the house (that was not a bedroom) so they could stay there if they wanted. House had 4 beds and there was at least 4 people there. Owner claimed to be fair on rent, only 800 a room, but could charge more. That's over 30k a year. No way owner is registered as they were insisting it was their PPR and normal place of registration.
> This is one case, but there are more. How do you measure what is not measurable, known etc.
> I have no issue with Rent-a-Room, but wonder whether it should still be tax free. Its not earned income and why should it not be taxable?


There's no reason in the world why Revenue, armed with suitable land registry, household electricity usage and electoral registers data, won't pick off these guys like daisies when the time is right and the interest bill is sufficiently high to make it worth their while. 

In the meantime, it makes little sense to pull the plug on a crucial source of accommodation when the alternative is to send more people off to sleep under bridges.


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> I am lost. Effective regulation would be fit for purpose and implement/managed etc. A lot of our regulation is not fit for purpose and therefoe ineffective. Or am I on the wrong page altogether?


The abolition of bedsits is an apt example of effective regulation. It achieved its purpose.


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

T McGibney said:


> The abolition of bedsits is an apt example of effective regulation. It achieved its purpose.


Are these not coming back under the guise of Rent-a-Room with  houses of multiple occupation? ?You hear about properties where the living room is now a bed room.


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> Are these not coming back under the guise of Rent-a-Room with  houses of multiple occupation? ?You hear about properties where the living room is now a bed room.


Are they? (Only a tiny subset of residential properties avail of the Rent-a-Room scheme, which anecdotally is a lot more popular now, than was the case a decade or so ago when bedsits were abolished.)

And the people who previously lived in them?


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## Luternau (28 Sep 2022)

T McGibney said:


> Are they? (Only a tiny subset of residential properties avail of the Rent-a-Room scheme, which anecdotally is a lot more popular than was the case a decade or so ago when bedsits were abolished.)
> 
> And the people who previously lived in them?


There have been plenty of media reports of shared rooms, rooms with bunk beds etc. I dont know the stats on Rent-a-Room, but the concept of house shares and rooms for rent is quite common. Some may be fully let to one person who then sublets. Impossible to measure.
I know all is borne from a chronic shortage of private accommodation. The rent-a-room relief stands out as being quite generous. 14k tax free is a lot of money. I still don't understand why it's not taxable. Its pretty unique in that context.
I know Revenue have the power to go back and impose fines in cases of non-compliance/evasion. Maybe/hopefully they will.


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## T McGibney (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> There have been plenty of media reports of shared rooms, rooms with bunk beds etc. I dont know the stats on Rent-a-Room, but the concept of house shares and rooms for rent is quite common. Some may be fully let to one person who then sublets. Impossible to measure.
> I know all is borne from a chronic shortage of private accommodation. The rent-a-room relief stands out as being quite generous. 14k tax free is a lot of money*. I still don't understand why it's not taxable*. Its pretty unique in that context.


Because accommodation is scarce enough as it is?


Luternau said:


> I know Revenue have the power to go back and impose fines in cases of non-compliance/evasion. Maybe/hopefully they will.


Imposing fines is neither here nor there compared to what they extract in typical arrears, interest and penalty cases.


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## DannyBoyD (28 Sep 2022)

Luternau said:


> Some may be fully let to one person who then sublets.


As long as the tenant in question has the permission of the owner and the property is their primary residence, this is legitimate and the €14k is tax free.
But we've gone from evasion - not legitimate - to 'why isn't rent-a-room taxable?'  - different topic.


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## lff12 (28 Sep 2022)

DannyBoyD said:


> It's not clear from what has been published so far; the note refers to 'PPR' and I believe there will be a requirement for the tenancy to be registered with RTB, which isn't the case currently for rent a room.


I suspect this requirement will disappear as quickly as it was announced. But yes, its also a good way to smoke out unregistered landlords.


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## DannyBoyD (2 Oct 2022)

lff12 said:


> But yes, its also a good way to smoke out unregistered landlords


The thing is you dont have to register if you are resident in the property and letting out rooms. Even if the income is greater than 14k and you correctly declare it.

The online registration doesn't allow you to register a single licensee. It asks how many adults in property (lets say 3, 1 owner, 2 sharers), then how many tenants (2 in this case) but you cant progress without putting in the names of 3 tenants, so you have to put the owner as a tenant?

Then if one of your sharers moves out, you have to register all the sharers again?

I dont see how this will work.


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## tomdublin (5 Oct 2022)

NoRegretsCoyote said:


> Seamus Coffey looked at this and in most cases where a reason could be discerned it was things like: renovation, bereavement, resident nursing home, house on the market, etc.
> 
> Good luck taxing those.....


If the government was serious about making vacant homes available for rent it would set a serious tax penalty, not 3 times the rate of property tax (i.e. around 700 a year for most homes). It's a joke.


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## Mortgage2023 (2 Jan 2023)

Hi all,

Was about to take a look at my taxes for 2022 on PAYE online. 

I was speaking to my landlord about the renters tax credit and he advised there is some hold up registering us with the RTB but he is taking care of it. 

While I am waiting for this will I be able to process the rest of my requests such as my reclaim on health expenses, reclaim tax relief at source on my health insurance etc then do my rent credit later in the year or do they all have to be claimed at the same time? 

Many thanks.


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## PebbleBeach2020 (2 Jan 2023)

Mortgage2023 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Was about to take a look at my taxes for 2022 on PAYE online.
> 
> ...


Hold up in registering??? How long are ye living there?


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## ClubMan (2 Jan 2023)

Mortgage2023 said:


> While I am waiting for this will I be able to process the rest of my requests such as my reclaim on health expenses, reclaim tax relief at source on my health insurance etc then do my rent credit later in the year


Yes 


Mortgage2023 said:


> or do they all have to be claimed at the same time?


No. Just go back and add the rental tax credit when the RTB registration has been sorted.


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## Mortgage2023 (2 Jan 2023)

ClubMan said:


> Yes
> 
> No. Just go back and add the rental tax credit when the RTB registration has been sorted.


Many thanks Club Man.


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## T McGibney (2 Jan 2023)

ClubMan said:


> Just go back and add the rental tax credit when the RTB registration has been sorted.


I'd claim it now. There's no problem in claiming it once the rental is genuine. The RTB are freely admitting that their "customers" are experiencing problems registering lettings on their shambolic platform.


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## ClubMan (2 Jan 2023)

T McGibney said:


> I'd claim it now. There's no problem in claiming it once the rental is genuine. The RTB are freely admitting that their "customers" are experiencing problems registering lettings on their shambolic platform.


I thought that you couldn't complete the Revenue myAccount form for claiming it without the RTB registration details? Maybe you can...


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## T McGibney (2 Jan 2023)

ClubMan said:


> I thought that you couldn't complete the Revenue myAccount form for claiming it without the RTB registration details? Maybe you can...


No idea, but aren't the RTB registration details (1) a matter for the landlord rather than the tenant (2) superfluous for rent relief claims from rent-a-room and certain other licensees/tenants?


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## ClubMan (2 Jan 2023)

T McGibney said:


> No idea, but aren't the RTB registration details (1) a matter for the landlord rather than the tenant (2) superfluous for rent relief claims from rent-a-room and certain other licensees/tenants?


My recollection is that the myAccount form asks for the RTB registration number.

Edit: yes, my recollection was correct. See this snippet from Tax and Duty Manual - Part 15-01-11A.


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## T McGibney (2 Jan 2023)

ClubMan said:


> My recollection is that the myAccount form asks for the RTB registration number.
> 
> Edit: yes, my recollection was correct. See this snippet from Tax and Duty Manual - Part 15-01-11A.
> 
> View attachment 7037


If they're going to honour their promise to allow the credit to rent a room licensees, this will have to  change. And fast.


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## ClubMan (2 Jan 2023)

T McGibney said:


> If they're going to honour their promise to allow the credit to rent a room licensees, this will have to  change. And fast.


From the snippet that I posted:


> Where the tenancy is registered with the RTB, the claimant will be asked to provide the RTB registration number assigned to the tenancy.


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## T McGibney (3 Jan 2023)

ClubMan said:


> From the snippet that I posted:





> Where the tenancy is registered with the RTB, the claimant will be asked to provide the RTB registration number assigned to the tenancy.


This suggests that a number is not mandatory to file a claim.

What an unnecessary mess.


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## Sunny (3 Jan 2023)

I am able to submit a claim without providing any landlord or RTB information. Whether they come back and question it, I don't know. The manual effort in managing this could be huge for revenue....


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## MugsGame (3 Jan 2023)

I claimed using a reference number the RTB sent me previously, but I have no idea if that's actually the tenancy id being sought by Revenue.

The RTB site wasn't much help in clarifying if this reference number is the same thing, or indeed confirming that the tenancy is still registered; searching by eircode the tenancy is not found, but the tenancy (including eircode) is found when I search by partial street address.


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## Paddy1981 (4 Jan 2023)

Are you guys able to register? I tries to claim, but site told me not available until mid February?


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## Sunny (4 Jan 2023)

Having problems doing a tax return through my revenue alright. It is letting me do a tax return and claim the credits including the rental credit and is giving me a reference at the end but when I exit My Revenue, the return is vanishing. I have done it twice now. Not getting any errors or messages. Going to put it down to time of year

Actually, just tried submitting without the rental credit and it went through fine. Pretty annoying that they let me do it if it is not available. They have made this much harder than it needs to be.


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## MugsGame (4 Jan 2023)

Paddy1981 said:


> Are you guys able to register? I tries to claim, but site told me not available until mid February?


It's not available to claim for 2023 until mid-Feb.

The budget back-dated it to 2022, so we're claiming it now in our 2022 returns.


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## MugsGame (4 Jan 2023)

Sunny said:


> Submitting without the rental credit and it went through fine. Pretty annoying that they let me do it if it is not available. They have made this much harder than it needs to be.


My 2022 return seems to have submitted (shows up as pending waiting on Revenue to review/process) with the rental credit attached.

It's a bit crazy that every renter is going to have to submit a return for 2022. I'm hoping that by putting my expected end of tenancy date in the future, the credit might automatically show up for 2023 without me needing to claim it separately.


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## Sunny (4 Jan 2023)

MugsGame said:


> My 2022 return seems to have submitted (shows up as pending waiting on Revenue to review/process) with the rental credit attached.
> 
> It's a bit crazy that every renter is going to have to submit a return for 2022. I'm hoping that by putting my expected end of tenancy date in the future, the credit might automatically show up for 2023 without me needing to claim it separately.



Thanks. I will try again and see what happens


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## Towger (4 Jan 2023)

This is the banner Revenue have across the top of the page:


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## MugsGame (4 Jan 2023)

Yes, not claimable yet for tax year 2023. But claimable for 2022.


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## Paddy1981 (Friday at 10:05 AM)

MugsGame said:


> It's not available to claim for 2023 until mid-Feb.
> 
> The budget back-dated it to 2022, so we're claiming it now in our 2022 returns.



I can't find where I'm meant to claim it though. Could anyone point me to it.


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## ClubMan (Friday at 10:09 AM)

Paddy1981 said:


> I can't find where I'm meant to claim it though. Could anyone point me to it.


See the "Further Guidance" document at the end of this page:





						Rent Tax Credit
					

This page explains how you could claim the Rent Tax Credit until 31 December 2017




					www.revenue.ie


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## Paddy1981 (Friday at 10:09 AM)

Thank you, ClubMan.


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## barbaros (Friday at 5:44 PM)

Is this available for 2022 tax returns in form 11? I started already and not sure if it will appear when I edit my tax return or if I have to delete and start from scratch but I can't see any relevant field under ros.ie while completing form 11 online.


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## Adelie (Saturday at 9:53 AM)

Is there any way of checking if a tenancy that ended mid-2022 was registered, and what the number was? We rented for half the year but I forget if we ever got a letter that we were registered and if we did, we lost it. I searched the RTB website but it’s not there (not surprisingly since it ended 6 months ago)


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## Sconeandjam (Saturday at 10:18 AM)

Is the renters credit up to €500 credit? What if you were renting for a few weeks? Does that credit still apply? 
Also as it is a tax credit over the year it would be €9.16 per week or could be less so does not seem alot in the scheme of things.


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## MugsGame (Saturday at 10:52 AM)

Cost based, not time based. Up for €2500 a year gross per claimant. Certainly more significant than the e-working credits.


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## Sconeandjam (Saturday at 1:20 PM)

So if a person only paid €500 in rent in 2022 what credit would they be allowed to apply for? Assume it would not be €500 renters credit but maybe they get €5 back?


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## RedOnion (Saturday at 1:29 PM)

Sconeandjam said:


> So if a person only paid €500 in rent in 2022 what credit would they be allowed to apply for? Assume it would not be €500 renters credit but maybe they get €5 back?


They would get a tax credit of 20% of the rent paid. The 500 (or 1000 for a couple) is a cap. This is a tax credit, so you only benefit if you're actually paying tax.


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