Ms Clare Costello:

The clawback applies if the taxpayer removes any of their properties from the rental market in any of the four years of assessment following the year in which the taxpayer has claimed the relief. If they were to let it to a connected party, the clawback would also apply. As I mentioned earlier, there is a condition that allows a taxpayer or landlord to still be eligible in the instance where the tenant has chosen to leave the tenancy, if the property is being actively marketed for rent. The conditions that apply to actively marketed for rent mean that the taxpayer is willing to enter into a residential tenancy agreement, that the rent sought for the qualifying premises does not exceed a market rent and that there are no conditions attaching to a tenancy that would be, in the view of the Revenue Commissions, unreasonable or designed to impede or disrupt the negotiation of the tenancy agreement. They have to be in a position to offer that property for rent. It is a self-assessment, but if Revenue was to conduct a compliance intervention, the onus would be on the taxpayer to demonstrate that they were actively marketing the property for rent at the time.