Gaining refund of VAT on investment property

extopia said:

So why bother then? There are easier ways to get a de-facto loan.

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There aren't many that are interest-free, as this effectively is.

Interest free maybe, but you have to take the extra work into account. Plus what about the cost of having to effectively rent out at below market value when you take the VAT you have to pay over to the revenue every two months into account?

extopia said:

Interest free maybe, but you have to take the extra work into account.

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There is undoubtedly extra work and it's up to the individual investor to decide whether it's worth the effort. I have personally gone through the process and for me it was. Others may conclude they don't want the hassle or the risks which have been outlined in earlier posts.

extopia said:

Plus what about the cost of having to effectively rent out at below market value when you take the VAT you have to pay over to the revenue every two months into account?

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This is not a cost - it's the repayment in installments of the VAT refund you got when you bought the property. The VAT refund is like a big chunk of rental income paid in advance. In fact it's better than that - as someone pointed out in a previous post, the VAT element of your rent is effectively rental income which is exempt from income tax. So, the state gives you an interest-free loan and allows you to earn the money to make the repayments tax-free. Furthermore, unlike a mortgage, repayments are automatically suspended if your property is unlet - no rent, no VAT liability! For me, there was an awful lot to like about the arrangement . . .

Don't forget also that the fact that you're registered for VAT means you're entitled to reclaim VAT on other input costs such as the fit-out, further increasing the value of your interest-free loan from the Revenue.

I don't find it a lot of extra work. I simply pay on line every two months. As long as the rent hasn't changed then neither will the vat payment. It takes 5 minutes every two months. Of course one has to keep adequate records but again that's no hassle.