I'm going abroad for a year. What will I do with my apartment?

strewth

Registered User
Messages
15
Hi. I bought a new apartment 2 and a half years ago. It cost me 285k. I'm leaving Ireland to travel around the world for a year and want to rent out my place.
Are there tax issues with this?
I was told by a colleague that if I rent out my property before its 5 years old I must pay stamp duty equal to the amount I would have had to pay if I had bought the property second hand.
Is this true? If so, thats about 14k tax which is less that I would make on the rent!! I would be better off leaving it vacant!!!
If anyone has done this before or has any advice for me I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Lucy