Landlord issues prevent many tenants claiming rent tax credit, says adviser

More than seven in 10 people renting a home have yet to claim the €500 rent tax credit to which they are entitled, according to a survey by adviser Taxback.com.

Issues or concerns with landlords were the primary reason, according to the people surveyed for Taxback.com, cited by 40 per cent of respondents.

Just under one in six people said they had no way of proving their claim because they pay their rent in cash and had not been given receipts by their landlords. A further one in eight said they were too “uncomfortable” to ask their landlord for the information require dot make a claim.

Landlords who are not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, as they are obliged to be, accounted for 10 per cent of failures to pursue the credit. A similar number said the process of claiming the credit, which involves making a tax return, was too cumbersome.

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The Government introduced the rent tax credit in the last budget as part of their efforts to be seen as more supportive of tenants dealing with record high rents. It runs for four years from 2022 to 2025 inclusive. From the Government’s perspective, a benefit to the State from the credit was that Revenue could ensure landlords are properly registered with the Residential Tenancies Board.

It was expected that 400,000 people would be eligible for the credit, which tenants can now claim in respect of 2022. However, the most recent statistics available from the Revenue Commissioners show that just over 190,000 claims have been made.

“The rent credit isn’t worth a fortune – but €500 or €1000 [for a couple] is a lot of money to leave on the table,” said Marian Ryan, a consumer tax manager at taxback.com, saying that some tenants find their hands are tied when it comes to making claims.

“We’re aware of a number of tenants who have hit a wall when they tried to claim the rent credit – simply because their own landlord hasn’t registered the tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board,” Ms Ryan said. “It can be very difficult, if not impossible, for a tenant to challenge such a landlord and request that the landlord registers the tenancy as, in practice, the tenant could risk losing their rental accommodation if they do so. Given the huge shortage of rental accommodation in this country, this is a risk which many tenants simply cannot afford to take.

“It was a laudable move the Government made by introducing it but for it to work, it definitely needs some tweaking. The onus cannot be on the shoulders of the tenant to provide such detailed information and tenants should not be penalised if their landlords are not 100 per cent compliant with private residential regulations.”

One in five tenants said they had simply not got around to making a claim.