We provide a collection agent service to our non-resident landlord clients. We’ll talk about what the service is, why you need it, and what we do and don’t do. Plus, we’ll give you an example of how it all works. The main focus points will be
- Non-resident landlord
- What we do
- What we don’t do
- Charges
- What you get
Non-resident landlord
You are a non-resident landlord if you live outside of the Republic of Ireland and rent property here. So, you are not resident in Ireland but have income from an Irish property. That property could be residential, commercial, or even land.
From 1 July 2023, a new Non-Resident Landlord Withholding Tax [NLWT] came into force. This is 20% of the gross monthly rent paid to Revenue each month. This puts an obligation on either your tenant or collection agent to
- Submit a monthly rental notification to Revenue for each property and
- Pay the 20% NLWT to Revenue every month
The Law
The law is that if you own a property here and get income from it then Ireland has primary taxing rights. So, you must pay taxes here on that property. But because you are resident elsewhere you may have to declare that income in your country of residence too. That’s not fair I hear you say! It is after all double taxation.
Yet, in most countries, you’ll get a credit for the Irish tax paid against your taxes where you live. But to get the credit your local tax advisor will need a copy of your Irish Tax return. The return and assessment will show the Irish liability and tax payment. As such, by doing it right here, helps you to do it right in the country where you are a resident.
What We Do
What we do is offer you a complete taxation service during the year and post-year-end. During the year to comply with the new NLWT rules and after year end complete your computations and tax return. Our focus is to get things right for you, so you don’t have any Irish Revenue headaches. We act for you with Revenue, so any queries come to us. In effect, we are your team on the ground here.
Register you for Tax
The first step is to register you for tax. If you recently moved abroad and are letting a property here, you must register for tax. This is you telling Revenue that you’ll have rental income each year and will pay tax on that. You become part of the self-assessment system so Revenue will expect an annual tax return. Any payment too, of course! You become a client of ours under our tax agency. So, we deal with any queries from Revenue. They come to us and leave you alone.
If you’re already registered for taxes and want to use our services, then we set you up under our tax agency.
Get your property details
We get your property details so we can make the monthly rental notifications for you. For a residential property, this would include
- The address
- The Eircode and
- Your property ID. This is the ID given to you for local property tax.
If you have a commercial property, we can apply for a property ID on the NLWT system.
File your rental notifications
We file your rental notifications to Revenue every month for the rent received in the previous month. And process the 20% withholding tax payments too. If you receive rent weekly or monthly it doesn’t matter, we’ll still do a monthly notification.
File your annual tax return
Yes, we’ll file your annual tax return too. We do this with two things in mind.
- Making sure that it is right. This protects you and reduces Revenue interaction
- Minimising your taxes as much as possible. By claiming everything you can claim and advising you about the things you can’t.
As mentioned earlier most non-resident landlords will be in a tax refund position. Under the new NLWT system, you pay tax at 20% of your gross rent before costs. But in your tax return, you pay tax at 20% of your profits, after costs. If your rental profit is greater than €42,000 in 2024, you’ll pay tax at the 40% rate. There is no PRSI charge for non-resident landlords and you could pay some USC. But you’ll only pay USC if your rental profit is over €13,000.
Rental Computation
For 2023 Mike Perry gets €1,700 per month rental income from his apartment in Dublin. Mike moved to Canada at the end of 2023. He paid €340 a month NLWT or €4,080 for the year. His rental profit for the year looks like this
| Gross Rents | €20,040 |
| Less Mortgage Interest | €8,000 |
| Repairs | €500 |
| Letting agent fees | €1800 |
| Tax consultancy fees | €900 |
| Insurance & RTB | €450 |
| Rental Profit | €8,390 |
| Tax Liability 20% | €1,678 |
| NLWT paid | €4,080 |
| Tax refund for Mike | €2,402 |
Advisory service
Sometimes clients need an advisory service. They decide to sell the property so need help with Capital Gains Tax. For non-residents Revenue want the taxes sorted before you get your money. This imposes certain obligations on your solicitor before they release funds. You could need help with CGT calculations and with tax reliefs like
It can be beneficial to file separate tax returns when a husband and wife own a property together. Especially if one spouse isn’t working abroad. This can result in extra tax credits available here so there’s no tax liability on half the rental profit.
What we don’t do
We don’t provide collection agency services only. If you use our services, we provide both the collection agent and end-of-year tax service. We can provide the end-of-year tax return service only but just not the collection agent service on its own.
If you already have a collection agent, such as an auctioneer, you might only need the tax return service. Your letting agent could be providing the collection agent service to you already. If they are great as some do and others don’t. Those who don’t may have genuine reasons for not doing so as they are property experts after all. They aren’t comfortable dealing with Revenue and don’t want to get involved in your taxes.
We have nothing to do with your property. That means we don’t collect rent and pay them to you, nor do we deal with tenants. We act purely as a collection agent to make sure your taxes are right. Any property dealings are between you and your tenants or your letting agent, if you have one.
We also don’t provide Tax return services to non-resident landlords who don’t work within the NLWT system. Once you work within the NLWT rules it’s up to you the landlord to file your return. If you don’t obey the new rules Revenue can come after the collection agent. That’s not something we will take on as we don’t want Revenue knocking on our door for your tax returns and payments.
Charges
We will charge €40 per month to do one rental notification. If it’s one property but two rental notifications then it would be €50 per month. An example of that would be a husband and wife owning one property but need separate rental notifications. The more rental notifications we do the more it will cost but we agree on all charges up front so there are no surprises. And our fees will be a tax-deductible expense.
What you get
What you get from our collection agent services is peace of mind. It’s a one-stop shop for all your taxation needs as a non-resident landlord. We deal with Revenue and liaise with you and/or your letting agent to get the monthly rental income. You’ll know that
- Your monthly rental notifications are on time
- You pay your NLWT every month
- We file your tax return every year on time
- We help you secure your tax refund and
- When you need some advisory services those are available too
When you are abroad, navigating the local taxes here can be tricky. Most people don’t have the time or patience to do that. You want to know that everything is above board and looked after. That saves time and money. You don’t need Revenue on your case as that’s a headache to avoid like the plague.
Do you need a collection agent and tax return service? If so, start here
