Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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234. To ask the Minister for Finance the progress the Revenue Commissioners have made in recovering tax arrears since May 2014 on earnings from renting out rooms or entire apartments or houses through the AirBnB online service; the value of the tax arrears recovered; if the Revenue Commissioners ensured that AirBnB hosts charge VAT at the appropriate rate and the steps the Revenue Commissioners have taken to ensure this. [41402/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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313. To ask the Minister for Finance the details of his Department's work in examining the taxation regime pertaining to the rent of properties under a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1651/17]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Finance the taxation treatment of income received by landlords from lettings (details supplied); the amount of declared income from this source for each of the years 2012 to 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1944/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 234, 313 and 337 together.

Income from the provision of rooms by Irish householders through online accommodation sites is subject to tax and the amount of taxable income is computed and charged to tax in the normal manner. Where the provision of guest accommodation is occasional in nature, as distinct from it arising in the course of a B&B or Guesthouse trade, the income arising would be treated as miscellaneous income (taxable under Case IV of Schedule D of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997). I am satisfied that the regime for the taxation of such income is clear and my Department is not engaged in a specific review of this area.

Regarding the VAT treatment of payments related to the provision of short term guest or holiday accommodation, a person must register for VAT if his/her income exceeds, or is likely to exceed, €37,500 per annum and the applicable VAT rate in these cases is 9%. 

I am informed by Revenue that, under self-assessment rules, a person has an obligation to submit an annual tax return showing his or her taxable income from all sources (including rental income) and pay the tax due on that taxable income. 

PAYE taxpayers who have also received profit income from the provision of rooms through online accommodation sites, come under the self-assessment system and, therefore, have an obligation to make an annual tax return showing all of their sources of income and to pay the tax due on that income.

In certain circumstances, PAYE taxpayers (excluding certain company directors) whose combined taxable profit from their non-PAYE income is less than €5,000 per annum may elect to pay the tax due on such taxable profit through the PAYE system; this is done by way of reducing their personal tax credits.  Where the tax due on all such income has been collected through the PAYE system for a tax year, a PAYE taxpayer must complete a tax return for that tax year only when requested to so by a Revenue officer.

I am further informed that information or statistics on the amount of income declared from individual sources is not available.

By virtue of section 888 Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997, intermediaries who receive payments from third parties on behalf of certain other persons, where those payments are made in connection with a premises, are obliged to provide an annual return to Revenue.  The legislation provides that the annual return should set out the amount of payments received, the name and address of the person to whom the premises belongs as well as the address of the premises in respect of which the payments were made. 

On account of the confidentiality provisions contained in section 851A TCA 1997, the Commissioners are precluded from providing any specific information in relation to compliance with the third party return obligations as set out in section 888 TCA 1997.  However, where the Commissioners receive annual third party returns from payment intermediaries, these returns are extensively analysed to ensure that the details provided are fully and accurately matched to specific individual taxpayers and to confirm whether the payment details provided by the third party have been fully declared by the ultimate recipient of the payment.

It is assumed that recipients of income reported by third party sources have declared the relevant details to Revenue for the years 2014 and 2015. However, where a taxpayer has not declared such income, I strongly recommend that they do so immediately as continued non-compliance can become costly due to the possible application of interest and penalties on any outstanding tax amounts.

Where a taxpayer has already filed their 2015 tax return but has not declared profit income from sources referred to by the Deputy, or similar sources, under the Code of Practice for Revenue Audit and other Compliance Interventions - - a taxpayer may self-correct their tax return without incurring penalties, provided they correct the tax return by 31 October 2017.  It should be noted that interest on any outstanding tax amount will still be payable and will continue to accumulate until the outstanding amount is paid and therefore I strongly encourage taxpayers to make any necessary self-corrections as soon as possible.

For taxpayers who have not yet filed a tax return or have not declared relevant income Revenue, they should write to their local Revenue office, setting out details of any income received and related expenses for the years 2014 and 2015, as appropriate.