Residential Premises Rental Income Relief (RPRIR)

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A new relief, known as Residential Premises Rental Income Relief (RPRIR), is available for individual landlords of rented residential premises. The Finance Act 2024 introduced an initiative to encourage landlords to keep their rental properties in the market. This initiative provides tax relief for small landlords who commit to maintaining their rental properties for a four-year period, from 2024 to 2027.

Under this scheme, landlords can benefit from tax-free rental income, effectively saving 20% on each relief limit. The relief amounts are as follows:

• €600 in 2024
• €800 in 2025
• €1,000 in 2026 and 2027

The relief applies to Income Tax only and will not reduce your liability to Universal Social Charge nor Social Security.

Who Can Claim the Relief?

This relief is available to individual landlords of residential rental properties. It is not available to companies, trusts, or estates.

If you own a share in a rented residential property, you are eligible to claim the relief. In this case, the relief will be allocated based on your percentage of the rental income. If you fully own another qualifying property, you can also claim the relief based on that property without restrictions.

Qualifying Conditions

To claim this relief, you must meet all qualifying conditions. As of December 31st of the relevant tax year, you must:

• Own the qualifying residential premises
• Hold a valid Tax Clearance Certificate
• Be compliant with Local Property Tax (LPT) obligations

Additionally, the qualifying premises must, on that date, be:

• Rented under a tenancy registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)
• Rented to a tenant and be a formerly rent-controlled property not required to be RTB registered
• Rented to a local authority or
• Actively marketed for rent

Note: you cannot claim the relief if any of the qualifying premises are rented to a connected person such as a family member or relative.

How Much Relief Can You Claim?

The amount of relief allowable for each year is restricted to the lowest of the following:

• €600 in 2024, €800 in 2025, and €1,000 in 2026 and 2027
• 20% of the landlord’s Case V rental income (profit from qualifying premises after deducting capital allowances and carried-forward losses) or
• 20% of the landlord’s total Case V rental income (profit from all Irish rental properties after similar deductions)

If you rent out multiple properties, you can only claim a single tax relief per year.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for this tax relief, landlords must agree to keep their properties available for rent until the end 31st December 2027. If they withdraw their properties from the rental market before this period, they will be required to pay back the taxes they would have otherwise saved.

Clawback of the relief:

The relief will be reclaimed in the following situations:

• If the property is sold or gifted within four years of the first year in which relief is claimed. This applies if ownership is transferred to another person, triggering a clawback. However, a landlord's death will not result in the relief being reclaimed.
• If the property is not rented to a tenant and is not actively listed for rent.
• If the property's use changes from residential letting, such as being rented out as a holiday home.
• If the property is rented to a connected person.

Important Considerations

To avoid penalties, landlords must ensure they submit their tax return and payment by the deadline. Late submissions may result in surcharges, interest, and penalties. Seeking professional tax advice is recommended to ensure compliance and maximize your benefits.

To ensure you are using all tax reliefs let OSK Tax Advisers know of any changes to your personal circumstances so we can adjust your tax credits and tax reliefs accordingly. Please contact OSK Advisers for details of our full range of tax and accounting services.

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