Rental income

If you earn money from renting out a property, or from another source that qualifies as rental income, it is taxable. Property includes residential property and commercial property – for example offices, shops, houses, factory land and more. Rental income also includes the receipt of premiums for the granting of a lease.

The total amount of rental income earned in a tax year is liable to tax. And if the rental income is earned from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022 but not received until 01 January 2023, it is still taxed in the 2022 tax year.

Rental income includes:

• the renting out of a house, flat, apartment, office or farmland
• payments you receive for allowing advertising signs or communication transmitters to be put up on your property
• payments you receive for allowing a right of way through your property
• payments you receive for allowing sprting rights such as fishing or shooting rights on your property
• payments you receive from your tenant to cover the cost of work to your rental property. Your tenant must not be required to pay for this work per the lease
• certain lease premiums, as well as deemed and reverse premiums
• conacre (a system of letting land, formerly in small patches or strips, and usually for tillage (growth of corn or potatoes)) lettings
• service charges for services connected to the occupation of the property
• payments from insurance policies that cover against the non-payment of rent
• if you are receiving rental income from a foreign property. See the foreign rental income section for more information

You must declare your rental income on your annual tax return. If your net rental income is less than €5,000 (and your gross rental income is less than €30,000), you can declare it through your Form 12. If your net rental income is over €5,000 (or your gross rental income is over €30,000) you declare your rental income in a Form 11.

If you are a non-resident landlord tax refund and your tenant pays rent directly to you, they are obliged to deduct tax from the rent at the standard rate (20%) and account for this to Revenue.

You are entitled to a credit for the tax deducted by your tenant. You must submit a Form R185 with your tax return to claim this. You may choose to use the services of a tax collection agent (who collects the rent and files your income tax on your behalf). If your tenant pays rent to an Irish based estate agent acting on your behalf, the tenant is not obliged or entitled to deduct income tax. The Irish agent is also not entitled to deduct tax from the rent on payment to the landlord but can retain a sufficient portion of the rents to satisfy the tax payable on the rents. The agent should not issue a Form R185 to the landlord.

If you make a rental loss

When your rental expenses are greater than your rental income, this is referred to as making a rental loss. You are entitled to carry forward your rental losses until you can offset them against a rental profit. However, you can only offset the loss against Irish rental income. You must use capital allowances first before offsetting the rental losses you brought forward from an earlier year.

You can't offset rental losses made by your spouse or civil partner against your own rental profits.

You also can't offset rental losses against other income or carry them back to a previous year.