# owe money to revenue how to go about paying it back ?



## holidayqueen (7 Jun 2008)

Hi All,
This is my first post but I have been on this site for a while. We have undeclaried income and want to go back and sort it all out. My husband ran a retail buisness for 10 years. It never did really well but he did manage to buy the premises. He closed down in 2002 and sorted out all vat owning and suppliers so that was ok. Things were going rocky for us at that time and he was depressed when the buisness failed. He has had the premises rented out for a small profit since 2002 and is a paye worker but has never declared his rental income also we own a house that was bought in 2000 with a small inherintance. Both of these would have mortgages and the profit would be small. What I need to know is how do I go back and sort this out we dont have much records of our transactions. The houes would not have been let all the time and we never kept and invoices of money spent on it. We are both paye workers now but I am very worried and feel this is hanging over our heads. What kind of investigation is likely to take place ? and what can we expect to happen ?
Will we be hit will huge penatities? I know we have kept our head in the sand but we want to sort it out. We could do with some positive advice please.


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## John Rambo (7 Jun 2008)

You're probably looking at a penalty of 30% and interest at approximately 10.75% per annum.


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## Slater (7 Jun 2008)

Might be better to bite the bullet now otherwise you will have a more difficult situation down the road.  You will need an accountant.


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## simplyjoe (7 Jun 2008)

May not be all that bad. Some way or another you have to list your rental income and then list your rental expenditure including the loan interest. On the house you will have needed to be registered with the PRTB (from 2006?) before you can claim any interest deduction. If you file a tax return form 11 from the date you commenced rental then you will pay a penalty of 10% of the tax/prsi for late filing of the return. It is possible but unlikely that the revenue will ask for interest or any further penalty. Basically you will have to pay the tax you should have paid anyway and a little extra (10% of the tax/prsi due). Dont consider not doing it as every year it gets worse with higher potential interest and penalties. Slater may be right though - look for advice.


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## Black Sheep (7 Jun 2008)

I would suggest that you try and get as much detail as you possibly can find down on paper even though receipts etc are scarce. Have you bank statements or mortgage statements which would be a start. Try and fill in as much as you can from memory of income and expenses which will help to give you an overall picture of roughly what amount of income was involved on a year by year basis.

If you decide to go to an Accountant you will need as much paperwork as you can find so go prepared

 The sooner you sort this out the better you will feel. Don't put it off


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## Domo (8 Jun 2008)

Yes, I agree, get all the information you can together and see a Tax Advisor or accountant.


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## holidayqueen (9 Jun 2008)

Thanks for the advice and I am feeling more confident now about approaching the problem. I will see a accountant this week if possible.  Is there a difference between a tax advisor or an accountant or is it the same?


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## Black Sheep (9 Jun 2008)

Most accountants would be in a position to deal with your situation but if in doubt why not ask when you are making the appointment if he deals with undeclared rental income. As already stated bring as much papers as possible sorted on a year by year basis. Add in any notes of your own that may help.

Remember the more preparation you do the less time the accountant spends therefore the less costs


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## Slater (9 Jun 2008)

I have used an accountant for over thirty years and a tax specialist on just one specific occasion. I found the tax specialist much more expensive, this would not be unexpected as the specialist is not often needed by ordinary traders. My experience, good luck.


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## capall (9 Jun 2008)

It sounds very minor. Just regularise your situation going forward if you are keeping the properties,otherwise if you can't cope with renting them just sell.


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