rent a room tax query.

[Satanta]

Revenue dispense information not advice.

Revenue are responsible for producing the information and enforcing compliance. On many phone calls to them I've often failed to be given the correct information from staff on the phone.... I have however been given lots of incorrect information on what steps to take that I would consider, seeing as it was no way related to the revenue documents, to be the personal "advice" of the person on the other end.
Had I not found the documents and looked through them for myself I would have assumed the details given to me by the staff was the "information" and not just that member of staffs opinion.

Again, not intentional, but had it been followed it would have left my tax affairs out by a fairly large chunk more than once (both over and under payments).

 

[ClubMan]

Be that as it may as far as I know the law is on Revenue's side in terms of disclaiming any liability for stuff that might arise from their dissemination of inaccurate or incomplete tax information.

 

[Satanta]

I believe you're 100% correct, which is probably the biggest problem with the system as it stands. Either staff shouldn't offer any opinion or advice unless backed up with the proof and details (information) or else there should be a level of accountability to what they say, at least where it's possible that people could interpret the advice as information.

However, it's a hugely different debate to anything related to the OPs point so not really one worth thinking too much about (and one I'm sure could possibly rumble on with more horror stories of advice/information gone wrong).

 

[serotoninsid]

Perhaps your daughter should issue receipts in order to avoid the situation the OP is in!

In the scenario I presented, I can't see how any harm can come to the landlord. No receipts means that whilst the landlord has no proof that he definitely didnt receive more than what he declared, the opposite also cannot be proven - given that the tenant in question paid in cash.

unless someone can tell me different?

 

[liteweight]

In the scenario I presented, I can't see how any harm can come to the landlord. No receipts means that whilst the landlord has no proof that he definitely didnt receive more than what he declared, the opposite also cannot be proven - given that the tenant in question paid in cash.

unless someone can tell me different?

Agreed. I just thought that if she issued receipts and kept a copy, she could avoid the situation every arising.

 

[dam099]

In the scenario I presented, I can't see how any harm can come to the landlord. No receipts means that whilst the landlord has no proof that he definitely didnt receive more than what he declared, the opposite also cannot be proven - given that the tenant in question paid in cash.

unless someone can tell me different?

If it came to a revenue audit (or a query like you outlined in the original post) having receipts might clear it up quicker and have the Revenue go off and focus on the tenants tax affairs for overclaiming. Right now its one persons word against another. Revenue may not know who to believe, receipts would be objective evidence.

One thing that puzzles me a little, are there lots of short tenancies? I don't see the incentive for most tenants to overclaim as there is quite a difference in the maximum relief available to most people. Assuming most rent a room tenants are under 55 and single and not married over 55 couples the maximum relief they can claim is on E1,650 which I would have thought is is less than a years rent for rooms in many areas (and vs a threshold of E7,620 for rent a room)

 

[deem]

Is the onus not on the tennant claiming the rent relief to prove that they paid what they are claiming.