Written answers

Thursday, 2 June 2022

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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208. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider an income disregard similar to the rent a room-a-scheme in respect of income for persons renting out a sole stand-alone property to long-stay tenants in an effort to incentivise long-stay letting over short-stay letting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28675/22]

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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212. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of taxation paid by owners arising from earnings from short-stay rental accommodation (details supplied) and other holiday lets in each of the years since 2016, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28676/22]

Photo of Brendan GriffinBrendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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213. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of taxation paid by owners arising from earnings from long-stay rental accommodation in each of the past five years; the amount paid by owners of rental property in cases in which the owner is the owner of just one rental property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28677/22]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 208, 212 and 213 together.

I am advised by Revenue that the duration of tenancies is not declared on tax returns. Additionally, short stay accommodation provided through on-line platform operators, such as the one referred to by the Deputy, is generally treated as trading income rather than rental income. As such, it is aggregated with other trading income and, therefore, it is not possible to provide the information requested in relation to short-term rental accommodation.

In relation to longer term rental income, I am further advised by Revenue that, while it is possible to identify the rental income returned, the final tax liability of persons in receipt of such income takes account of a combination of all incomes, reliefs, credits, and deductions available to the taxpayer. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the exact tax liability associated with rental income.

The table below sets out the gross income, rental income and total tax paid on all income for those taxpayers who declared residential rental income on their returns for the years 2016 to 2019 (the latest year for which fully analysed data is currently available).

Year Gross Income €bn Residential Rental Income €bn Income Tax Paid €bn
2019 15.4 3.2 3.5
2018 14.8 3.0 3.3
2017 14.1 2.8 3.2
2016 12.9 2.6 2.8

The table below provides the same information in respect of the subset of taxpayers with one residential rental property.

Year Gross Income €bn Residential Rental Income €bn Income Tax Paid €bn
2019 6.7 1.1 1.5
2018 6.4 1.0 1.4
2017 5.9 0.9 1.3
2016 5.2 0.8 1.3

At present I have no plans to introduce a relief along the lines of that outlined by the Deputy.

As indicated to the Deputy in my reply to his question no. 82 dated 1 June 2022, proposals for any new tax reliefs must be assessed in accordance with my Department's Tax Expenditure Guidelines. These make clear that it is important that any policy proposal which involves tax expenditures should only occur in limited circumstances. In particular, they provide that a tax-based incentive should only be considered where it would be more efficient than a direct expenditure intervention.

Finally, on the question of the tax treatment of rental income generally, and as I also mentioned in my reply the Deputy's question no. 82 yesterday, under the Housing for All strategy, my Department is committed to review the recommendations of the Report of the Working Group on the Tax and Fiscal Treatment of Rental Accommodation Providers (2017) by Q3 2022. This work is in hand and I look forward to the outcome of the review in due course.

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