Sir, – As a "small" landlord, I was pleased to see Joanne Hunt's article "Numbers don't add up for small landlords" (Weekend, February 26th).
The article doesn’t mention that landlords suffer tax discrimination compared to all other types of self-employment. Rental income is classified as unearned income in tax law; this means that if the landlord’s only source of income is rental income, then he will be denied the earned income tax credit, currently €1,700, and will pay €1,700 more income tax than a self-employed or employed person on the same income.
Also, in computing the net rental profit for taxation purposes, costs that would normally be allowed for other self-employments are not. For example, a landlord is not allowed to charge the cost of repairs and maintenance carried out before a tenant moves in, if it is the first time he has let the property. However, if the landlord allows the tenant to move into a scruffy place and then does the required work, the costs are tax deductible!
The article makes the point that many small landlords had good long-term tenants and kept rents down while market rents increased. The introduction of rent pressure zones meant that when these long-term tenants left, these landlords could not increase the rent to anywhere near the market rent. As a consequence, landlords now cannot risk being generous to a tenant with limited means for a while, as they cannot then raise the rent for a new tenant who can pay market rent.
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A landlord must register tenancies with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and has to pay €90 for the privilege of doing so. We all have to submit tax returns but we don’t have to pay a fee for submitting them!
Under the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 landlords, from 2022, will have to submit a form every year to the RTB even if the information they have on the tenancy involved hasn’t changed since last year. A fee may be charged for these annual forms; the amount is unclear as this section of the 2021 Act isn’t in yet.
It is definite that there will be a fine of €20 per day if this useless form is received after the due date.
If the Government wants to stop the exodus of small landlords highlighted by your article, tax equality for landlords and less bureaucracy would help. – Yours, etc,
ENID O’DOWD,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.