Tax-dodging landlords face court action

[Green_Bear]

The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) is to take its first court prosecutions against landlords who have failed to register their properties for tax next month.
If found guilty several landlords could face fines of up to €3,000 or a six-month jail term.
Since its foundation in 2004, the Board has sent enforcement notices to almost 4,500 landlords for failing to register their tenancy. Most of these soon register. However, court proceedings against the remainder will begin in early December.
The year 2007 is set to be a record one for complaints to the Board, with just under 1,400 filed so far, up by more than 100 from last year. The most common disputes referred by tenants relate to landlords who fail to return deposits and who fail to give sufficient notice to move out.
Landlords’ main complaint concerns tenants who are behind in paying their rent. >>>>

Tax-dodging landlords face court action
independent.ie/national-news … 22917.html

[Sidewinder]

Fines of €3K? Pfffffft.

This is ludicrous. The fine should be a proportion (say, 15%) of all the rent they had collected from the unregistered unit. All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due. Repeat offenders get the unit seized by CAB.

Enough of all this highly expensive arseing around. Do the damn job properly or not at all. I’m totally sick of ineffectual FF hand-flapping and acting busy in every area of corporate governance and regulation. Bastards.

[bugler]

All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due.

Surely this must currently happen? Tax evaders have to settle up.

[BertieBasher]

@Sidewinder

Fines of €3K? Pfffffft.

This is ludicrous. The fine should be a proportion (say, 15%) of all the rent they had collected from the unregistered unit. All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due. Repeat offenders get the unit seized by CAB.

Enough of all this highly expensive arseing around. Do the damn job properly or not at all. I’m totally sick of ineffectual FF hand-flapping and acting busy in every area of corporate governance and regulation. Bastards.

Ever thought that the people most likely to be caught out here are the very ones who legislate for it?
Aren’t the biggest conmen and women in this country the politicians?

[Sidewinder]

@bugler

All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due.

Surely this must currently happen? Tax evaders have to settle up.

Yeah but it’s not done in an organised systematic way, it’s all very random and ad hoc. The Revenue should have a team in the PRTB HQ automatically cross-checking every single registration that comes in to see if the landlord is declaring their rental income for tax.

[robd]

@Sidewinder

Fines of €3K? Pfffffft.

This is ludicrous. The fine should be a proportion (say, 15%) of all the rent they had collected from the unregistered unit. All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due. Repeat offenders get the unit seized by CAB.

Enough of all this highly expensive arseing around. Do the damn job properly or not at all. I’m totally sick of ineffectual FF hand-flapping and acting busy in every area of corporate governance and regulation. Bastards.

If landlords are not registered with the PRTB from this year on, then they automatically become liable for tax at the full rate of income tax (prob 41% + PRSI in most cases). The Revenue might not chase them straight away but at some stage they do and then they’ll be liable for interest an penalties on top of the 41%. I doubt it’s all that difficult for them to get the list of judgments from the PRTB and put it into their system. What’s the rush for them when interest and penalties are clocking up by the day.

[fitzy73]

boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055197742

[yoganmahew]

@fitzy73

boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055197742

To be fair, I think the OP is talking about rent a room (“large double room ensuite”).

[rock3r]

@Sidewinder

@bugler

All that rental income also to be automatically communicated to the Revenue for additional fees, charges, and income tax due.

Surely this must currently happen? Tax evaders have to settle up.

Yeah but it’s not done in an organised systematic way, it’s all very random and ad hoc. The Revenue should have a team in the PRTB HQ automatically cross-checking every single registration that comes in to see if the landlord is declaring their rental income for tax.

I think a database admin fresh out of college, getting paid €15 an hour, could knock together a perfectly adequate set of SQL commands to make this happen. I don’t think a “team” as such would be needed.

Ireland can’t realistically have more than 1 million landlords and 2.5 million tenancies. Modern databases are designed to comfortably handle ten times that amount. As IT challenges go, this is a laugh.

As for the fine of €3k: assuming the defendant immediately admits everything and contests nothing, won’t bringing it to court comfortably cost more than ten times that figure?