confusion over rent relief

sickle

Hi,
I am currently trying to claim back for a flat i rented last year, but the problem is that our landlord lives in the U.S. and the form says:

"Rents payable to non-resident landlords
If your landlord resides outside the country and you pay the rent directly to him/her or into his/her bank account either
in the State or abroad, you must deduct tax at the standard rate of tax (2008: 20%) from the gross rent payable.
Example: Gross rent per month €1,000
Deduct standard rate tax (€1,000 x 20%) € 200
Pay to Landlord (€1,000 - €200) € 800
If you pay tax under the PAYE system, you account for the tax deducted by reducing your tax credits and Standard
Rate Cut-Off Point. You must notify your Local Revenue Office who will arrange this for you. If you pay tax under
self-assessment, account for the tax deducted will be displayed on your notice of assessment.
Failure to deduct tax leaves you liable for the tax that should have been deducted."

Now, i didn't realise this before and didn't deduct the tax before paying the rent. What should i do now, should i just submit the form and see what happens (could this negatively affect my tax credits/am i liable for this tax?)
Or should i just forget about it? The line at the bottom of the quote says i am liable basically...

BigglesMcGee

Just submit it and say paid to the landlord. Give his address (or the address of the person you paid rent to) from then and the address of the property. You dont know he lives in the US now do you

If you paid into his bank account it doesnt matter either, just add anote telling revenue the story.

They will work out how much you overpaid and refund the tax to you.

It wont affect you negaively in any way whatever you do. You paid the money, you are entitled to the relief. End of story.

Remember you can also arrange your credits for where you are renting now and going forward too.

sickle

Give his address (or the address of the person you paid rent to) from then and the address of the property

ah but the only address we have for the landlord is his U.S address. I really just don't wanna get screwed for the unpaid tax so leaning towards not applying for the rent relief in case it goes bad. It also sounds like the onus is on us to declare the tax and sort out tax credits not him.

BigglesMcGee

sickle wrote: »

ah but the only address we have for the landlord is his U.S address. I really just don't wanna get screwed for the unpaid tax so leaning towards not applying for the rent relief in case it goes bad. It also sounds like the onus is on us to declare the tax and sort out tax credits not him.

Its not up to you to pay someone elses tax.

You're completly safe. It wasnt your income therefore you have no tax liability under any twisting of the scenario.

Put his US address on it and say thats the only address you have for him now, you dont know whether he lives there or not. Its not up to you to collect tax for revenue.

The tax man is not the ogre you might think he is. He's fair in things like this.

Ste.phen

BigglesMcGee wrote: »

Its not up to you to pay someone elses tax.

You're completly safe. It wasnt your income therefore you have no tax liability under any twisting of the scenario.

I'm not sure you're right on this.

revenue.ie, form RENT1 wrote:

Rents payable to non-resident landlords
If your landlord resides outside the country and you pay the rent directly to him/her or into his/her bank account either in the State or abroad, you must deduct tax at the standard rate of tax (2008: 20%) from the gross rent payable.
Gross rent per month €1,000
Example:
Deduct standard rate tax (€1,000 x 20%) € 200
Pay to Landlord (€1,000 - €200) € 800
If you pay tax under the PAYE system, you account for the tax deducted by reducing your tax credits and Standard Rate Cut-Off Point. You must notify your Local Revenue Office who will arrange this for you. If you pay tax under self-assessment, account for the tax deducted will be displayed on your notice of assessment.
Failure to deduct tax leaves you liable for the tax that should have been deducted.

Put his US address on it and say thats the only address you have for him now, you dont know whether he lives there or not. Its not up to you to collect tax for revenue.

I believe in this case it is.

The tax man is not the ogre you might think he is. He's fair in things like this

Agreed on this, i'm sure they'll work something out.

Victor

You only have a problem if the landlord doesn't pay up. Given that the landlord owns a house that the Revenue can put a lien on, the landlord is likely to pay up.

The_Conductor

BigglesMcGee wrote:

Its not up to you to pay someone elses tax.

Not true at all.
If the landlord is not resident in Ireland, a tenant is legally obliged to deduct 20% of the gross rental demand (or whatever the marginal taxrate is at that point in time) from the gross rent and forward this to the Revenue Commissioners. It is the duty of the landlord to satisfy the Revenue Commissioners that the 20% deduction is sufficient to cover any o/s tax demand on the rental income, its entirely possible that further payments may be necessary........

If in doubt- ring the Revenue Commissioners and ask, even informally. They will be only too happy to give you whatever info you need over the phone.........

sickle

thanks for all the advice!
I'll have to ring them during the week to get it sorted properly i guess.