Rent free hime

Gael23

I may have an opportunity to live rent free in a property owned by a family member and just pay the utility bills They live abroad so are holy for it not to be empty.

Would doing this cause any tax issues for me or them?

Darc19

It shouldn't if the reason is to ensure that the property is occupied and there is no history of renting.

You would have a house sitter agreement which would include you doing upkeep work and ensuring that the property is occupied.

DmanDmythDledge

Darc19 wrote: »

It shouldn't if the reason is to ensure that the property is occupied and there is no history of renting.

You would have a house sitter agreement which would include you doing upkeep work and ensuring that the property is occupied.

Absolute horse ****. Of course its a taxable gift

Darc19

DmanDmythDledge wrote: »

Absolute horse ****. Of course its a taxable gift

Can you point the relevant information?

If it's a specific short term period and has conditions attached it can't be seen as a gift.

Plenty of houses have house sitters and there are companies that specialise in the area.

DmanDmythDledge

CATCA 2003. Can you point to where it isn't?

My understanding from the OP is that they have been granted a house to live in rent free indefinitely.

Gael23

Also they would have access to stay in the house whenever they come to Ireland for holidays

DmanDmythDledge

Gael23 wrote: »

Also they would have access to stay in the house whenever they come to Ireland for holidays

I still don't think that changes things. You are still been given the use of a property as your main residence rent free and the taxable gift is the annual market rent, less any contributions you make (bills etc would not count) less the annual small gift exemption. The only situation I'm aware of that this isn't a taxable gift is where people continue to live in their family home.

You would also have the lifetime threshold of €32, 250 or €16,500 (depends on the relationship with the owner) but given the cost of rents nowadays that may not last too long, depending on how long the arrangement is going to be in place and previous gifts/inheritances received from Group B/C previously.

Darc19

If it was a long term free rental, then it would be treated differently.

From the op, I guessed that it was something short term for under a year.


So it really depends on the timeframe.

Gael23

Darc19 wrote: »

If it was a long term free rental, then it would be treated differently.

From the op, I guessed that it was something short term for under a year.


So it really depends on the timeframe.

Would be potentially for about 10 years depending on circumstances

dennyk

It's covered on Revenue's site here. You would be assessed CAT on the difference between what you are paying for the use of the property and the fair market value of said use (e.g. if it were rented to someone on the open market for the same length of time). As others have mentioned, this would be offset by the annual CAT exemption of €3000 on gifts between the same disponer and beneficiary, and by your applicable lifetime CAT group threshold (depending on your relationship with the disponer). Given the current rental market, though, it's likely that you'll burn through your group threshold rather quickly (and remember that will impact the CAT you will owe on all future gifts or inheritances you receive from anyone in the group in question, as well). It's still better than paying the full cost of rent outright, though, so there is that...

DmanDmythDledge

Darc19 wrote: »

If it was a long term free rental, then it would be treated differently.

From the op, I guessed that it was something short term for under a year.


So it really depends on the timeframe.

What's the difference? You haven't answered that.