girlfriend paying rent

silverroof56

I have my own house,..and my girlfriend has been living with me for the past seven months.
Does anybody charge their girlfriend rent,..and how much...

Another thing I was considering,...as far as I know,..I can earn up to 6,000 rent per year without paying tax.
As my girlfriend,..is at the moment making a small contribution towards the house,..i was wondering if I should register as a landlord,..so that she can claim rent relief..

any ideas,..on this subject?

many thanks

The_Conductor

If it is your principle dwelling and not a rental property- you are entitled to let a room (under the rent-a-room scheme) and earn up to Euro 7,620 per annum without paying any tax on it. Note- if you go one penny over the Euro 7620 you pay tax on the whole lot- not just the excess......

You are not obliged to register as a Landlord with the PRTB, nor do you have to supply your 'housemate' with a rentbook. Your 'housemate' is still entitled to claim rental relief however- and the earnings from the Rent-a-room scheme should be declared annually on a personal tax return (providing its below the 7620 its non-taxable income though).

Full details here:
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/housing/buying_a_house_or_flat/rent_a_room_scheme.html?

silverroof56

many thanks...most helpful

CathyMoran

We share a 3 bed house though he owns it, I pay 450 Eur a month, I could claim tax relief but have never bothered to. Sorry to be confusing here (and mods please feel free to remove if not appropraite), but what would be the situation if you split up, would the gf be entitled to some money back?

Ag marbh

CathyMoran wrote:

but what would be the situation if you split up, would the gf be entitled to some money back?

Why would she?, His girlfriend is getting what shes paying for!

dbnavan

Depends how serious the GF is but if its serious enough to move in with her, I would just split the bills rather then charge her rent.

CathyMoran

The reason why I said about getting money back if anything went wrong is because I was once sharing a house with a then bf, he was charging me 700 Eur a month for a few years, I found out that I may have been entitled to some money back, though it would have involved lawyers. If it were me I think that it would be kinder to split the bills - a friend of mine ensures that any major item that she buys for the house is itemised officially in case they split up.

ChRoMe

CathyMoran wrote:

I was once sharing a house with a then bf, he was charging me 700 Eur a month for a few years, I found out that I may have been entitled to some money back.

Just curious but why would you be entitled to some of your rent back??

seamus

ChRoMe wrote:

Just curious but why would you be entitled to some of your rent back??

There are certain rules governing live-in partners, even if the house is entirely yours. After a certain period of time (afaik), your partner is entitled to half of the house regardless of whether they've contributed to the cost.

Personally, I wouldn't charge my girlfriend rent unless she insisted, but when I'm at that stage, it'll be our money, as opposed to her money and my money.

CathyMoran

ChRoMe wrote:

Just curious but why would you be entitled to some of your rent back??

TBH, this is nearly beyond the remit of this but the split was a nasty one, we had been together 5 years and I could have persued it along those lines, I was paying most of his rent, etc. In a relationship there has to be some trust and while noone wants a freeloader a split of the bills rather than the rent seems fairer.

CathyMoran

seamus wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't charge my girlfriend rent unless she insisted, but when I'm at that stage, it'll be our money, as opposed to her money and my money.

The nicer approach, thankfully...it gets messy and you end up just feeling like the flatmate otherwise. A friend of mine shares a house with her bf but she pays for the odd bit of food, some of the bills but she never pays part of the morgage, it works for them. The rent relief for your gf would not be much and it is hardly worth the additional hastle, but it is something that she is entitled to claim.