Tenants won't allow viewings

But getting a discount buying something isn't reducing my taxable income is it?

And giving a rebate of rent after the tenants provided access for viewings , which they are not obliged to do, is essentially consideration for allowing the access.
 
But getting a discount buying something isn't reducing my taxable income is it?
Exactly! It's not income so you don't pay tax on it. It's exactly the same as a discount on rent, it isn't income so the tenant doesn't pay tax on that. A landlord is entitled to reduce rent for any reason they choose. doing so does not create a taxable event.
 
"For any reason they chose" I find that hard to believe Leo.

But you still fail the recognise that no discount would be given in this case if the tenants didn't allow access to the property. The reduction in rent is payment for a service, not a reduction for early payment of rent or the tenants falling on hard times it's a contract.
 
I'd disagree.

The discount / waiver on a months rent is compensation for the hassle and interruption caused by the viewings which the tenants are not obliged to facilitate.

Once it is agreed that it is compensation for the interruption, then I would be of the opinion that no tax would be due. The landlord also is only losing the net amount after tax as he/she would not be getting rental income for that month
 
There’s no way that this would give rise to tax. What’s happening from a commercial perspective is simple; the rent was, say, €2,000 a month. The tenant is saying that for a tenancy where potential buyers and estate agents will be traipsing through his or her home, the rent should be, say, €1,500 a month. And then the landlord is agreeing. They’re not two distinct products or services. The parties are agreeing that the price for being left alone is different to the price for being hassled.
 
A number of years ago, I was a tenant in a house that went up for sale and I agreed to viewings. It was awfully uncomfortable, having strangers trampling through your home (yes, rented properties can also be homes) was just not nice.
Let the tenants move out, tidy the place and then put it on the market. Its nothing more than showing a bit of respect to the people who have been paying your mortgage.
 
Eh what do you think happens when anyone sells a house ? You have viewings, strangers traipsing through it.
 
Eh what do you think happens when anyone sells a house ? You have viewings, strangers traipsing through it.
I assume you mean if an owner/occupier was selling a house? There is a big difference here - an owner occupier will have several hundred thousand lodged in to their account at the end of the sale - a tenant will have to go hunting for somewhere new to live in the current impossible market. The owner/occupier will also be paying the estate agent, the tenant will not have that relationship with the agent. He who pays the piper, etc.

On a side note - as a buyer, I would be a little uncomfortable viewing a house with sitting tenants - even if I'm told they are on notice. I'd always be a bit worried about the "what if's" of the tenant refusing to move before the closing date.

And point no. 3 - do you really want your agent to go to the trouble of taking photos, complete with a tenants jocks hanging on the radiator, for daft.ie?
 
OP why do you not wait until your tenants have gone? The house will be in order and you will not have to worry about tenants being in the way?
I am in a similar situation having decided to sell my investment property in Dublin, a 2 bed apartment. I am issuing formal 6 months notice to the tenants tomorrow having already informally advised them that I am selling. They allowed an estate agent in last week to perform a valuation. The agent is suggesting that i wait until the end of the notice period or until they move out before I sell. But I feel that they could be there for the full 6 months and I am concerned about waiting 6 months and perhaps the market crashing ? Also having to pay the mortgage myself for a few months and possibly the next management fee if that sale is not completed by next April. Any thoughts anyone ?
 
You could always have a friendly chat with your tenants and offer them a bonus if they move out early. While its unlikely that they will find somewhere new to live quickly in this current market, you never know unless you ask.
By the way, if you do pay next years management fee, the new owner will pay you back whatever the % of the year is remaining.
 
Rented properties are homes, the tenants homes.

I sold an apartment a few years back, waited for tenant to move out before putting it up for sale. An almost identical apartment was put up for sale about 3 months earlier, with tenants in place. Tenants will not stage a property so it looks well - nor should you expect them to, its a pain showing you're own property having to clean up, vacate the place at short notice. I remember looking at their photos online, with gym equipment in the dining area, looked really cramped.

Mine sold for approximately 20% more, same square footage.
 
When we bought our house the viewings had the sitting tenants present watching TV or having their dinner. It was a bit weird and I'm sure it put some purchasers off.

We weren't in a chain so we could afford a delay, but we wouldn't have bid otherwise.
 
"For any reason they chose" I find that hard to believe Leo.
Nonetheless it is absolutely true, there is nothing in the tenancy legislation to suggest otherwise.
The reason is immaterial. It's still a reduction in rental income and both parties are perfectly entitled to treat it as such.
 
Make sure you completed the forms that are the Rtb site and get the forms signed infront of solicitor or commissioner of oaths. Make sure you give an extra few days in move out date to allow for delay in postage. You will need to send a copy to Rtb after the move out date. I sent it in error sooner than expected when I issued the tenant notice but they replied that it will not affect the outcome. I paid swift post so I have proof it was delivered. I know you can hand deliver but wanted to have proof that someone else delivered it.

Why not contact your bank have see what options you gave there? Maybe interest only or mortgage holiday? Then before your tenants move out and apply to pay interest only for say 6 months until the apartment is sold. It will not cost you too much in the scheme of things.
 
Make sure you completed the forms that are the Rtb site and get the forms signed infront of solicitor or commissioner of oaths.
That is complete overkill. Just sign the letter yourself, take a scan of the signed copies and addressed envelope, and send it by registered post.

That will be enough to satisfy anyone that they were sent and delivered.
 
You don't pay tax on the rent as stated in the contract, you pay tax on rent received. Whatever is stated in the contract doesn't come into it.
I don't think this is entirely correct.

Tax is payable on the rent due, rather than on the rent received. If the rent received is less than the rent due, the difference can be expensed as a bad debt, subject to the usual rules which govern deduction of bad debts.

In other words Revenue are entitled to ask what efforts the landlord made to recover the amounts due, and if they are unhappy to disallow the claim for bad debt as a deduction.
 
Tax is payable on the rent due, rather than on the rent received. If the rent received is less than the rent due, the difference can be expensed as a bad debt, subject to the usual rules which govern deduction of bad debts.
You can enter it as a discount with no expectation to chase it. The rent payable on a period with a change in tenancy will always be some combination of the rent as stated in the first lease, a period without rental income during the changeover and then the rent as per the new lease.
 
In other words Revenue are entitled to ask what efforts the landlord made to recover the amounts due, and if they are unhappy to disallow the claim for bad debt as a deduction.
For the typical mom'n'pop landlord with say €10k of rental profits do you think Revenue will care?

Under audit my working assumption would be that once gross rental income matches what is recorded on bank statements they won't care.
 
For the typical mom'n'pop landlord with say €10k of rental profits do you think Revenue will care?
No I don't think Revenue would care, but that is a different question.

Under audit my working assumption would be that once gross rental income matches what is recorded on bank statements they won't care.
That might be too casual, once an audit is started I think they would be fairly thorough.