Letter from revenue what does it mean

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psygnosis

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I am an owner occcupier renting rooms in my property under the rent a room scheme. I have received a letter from the revenue with this content:

"I note from my records that there is 2 Tenants at the above address. Please now forward a full Rental computation for the above year".

Anyone have any ideas why I would have got this. I encourage anyone renting rooms in my place to claim their rental relief. I don't receive rental income above the cutoff allowed under the rent a room scheme so shouldn't pay tax on the rent I receive. Is this a simple request for more info or does it mean I'm being audited??
 
As far as I am aware when the rent a room relief scheme was introduced it was confirmed that details of the rental income would need to be inluded in a tax return despite the fact that you may not pay income tax on the amount received if it is less than the exemption amount.
 
It's a simple request - if you're under the limit you've nothing to worry about. Just be as friendly and cooperative as you can. For now they are asking for your rental income figures so that's what you should give them.
 
This is probably following on from the recent campaign the Revenue have been doing to encourage people to claim their tax credits. They now have a lot of Rent1 form in with relevant details of landlords who have not declared the income. They do not know that yours is under the Rent a Room exemption until you tell them of which you are obliged to do.

Method in their madness!! They now have a lot of info on landlords. Certain tax districts pulled a lot of Rent1 where they identified the landlord as the parents, still awaiting word as to whether they will treat this as rent for tax relief purposes. Stamp duty clawback is the other one they are looking at.
 
anyone know if there is a definition available for what is meant by 'principal private residence' in terms of classfiying renting rooms under the rent a room scheme. I can't find a definition on revenue.ie or oasis.gov.ie.
i.e. some general definitions say it's where you lived for the majority of the tax year, so if you lived there for just 7 months of the year does it still qualify.
 
I don't know what the formal definition is but basically it's your normal full time residence. If you lived there for 7 months out of 12 then it would be your PPR for the 7 months but not for the additional 5 - i.e. you can't "qualify" your property as a PPR for the full year just by living there for most of the year! If there is any doubt Revenue will probably just make a call on this themselves. If in doubt then get independent, professional advice.
 
The following is the formal defination as per revenue for Qualifying Residency for Rent a Room.

The “qualifying residence” must be part of the individual’s sole or main residence. Whether a property is the sole or main residence of an individual is a question of fact. In general, a property will be an individual’s sole or main residence if it is the individual’s home and it is the place where friends and correspondents would expect to find him/her. The residence does not have to be owned by the individual, for example, it could be rented accommodation.​
 
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