Rental Income - Back tax

Can anyone help. I have a rented second property for the last four years. Have only made a "profit" (minor) in the last two years. Can someone tell me how to go about paying any tax due as I need to clear it up

Many thanks in advance

Any advice would be great

Hi Supermom, you will need to have proof of the rent you have had coming in - bank statements or receipts etc firstly...
I am not sure if revenue will be interested if you have only made a profit in the last 2 years or not, they just want their share of tax from your additional rental earnings unfortunately. To be honest I'd call in to your local accountants and have a chat with them about how best to approach this and minimise the pain! A good friend of mine was in a similar situation and enlisted the help of her accountant to help get her taxes in order.
Best of luck.

Was the property registered with the PRTB? If not, mortgage interest isn't an allowable expense, and you may find the Revenue consider almost all the rent you took in to be "profit".

def enlist the help of an accountant, aproach 2/3 and get quotes, initial appt should be complimentary. you may have rental losses from previous years, that could offset your last two years profits. as Berni said mortgage interest is only an allowable expense if you have been registered with the prtb, plus not all mortgage interest will be allowable depending on the year.

shinners said:

initial appt should be complimentary.

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Why, exactly?

T McGibney said:

Why, exactly?

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I imagine because a lot of accountants today seem to be giving the initial consultation free. ( going on the adverts I'm seeing anyways.)


Re the original post the PRTB issue is very relevant as failure to have registered means possible taxable profits in all years.

In strictness returns should be filed in each year , even those with losses, to show proper carry forward of the losses to following years. As it is effectively an arrears case, I'd second getting these returns done by an accountant so that all issues are properly dealt with. Going forward, the taxpayer may then feel they have sufficient knowledge to file themselves.

Graham_07 said:

I imagine because a lot of accountants today seem to be giving the initial consultation free. ( going on the adverts I'm seeing anyways.)

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That may be so, but its hardly a sensible basis for shopping around. A 'free consultation' is meaningless if the service provider can simply build the cost into a bill for services or a 'second consultation' that mightn't have been necessary had the first one not been 'free'.

T McGibney said:

That may be so, but its hardly a sensible basis for shopping around. A 'free consultation' is meaningless if the service provider can simply build the cost into a bill for services or a 'second consultation' that mightn't have been necessary had the first one not been 'free'.

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I disagree. The client can outline to several proposed providers what it is their problem is. They can ask what it is the provider would do if engaged by them and they can ask for approximate costs. They can then use that data to help in deciding who to engage. The face-to-face meeting is also useful for both parties to "size up" as it were the other to see if they would be happy doing business with each other. Something which a telephone call may not do. If the client is happy with the provider and their fee quote then any build-in for the initial consult or not, is largely irrelevant.

Graham_07 said:

I disagree. The client can outline to several proposed providers what it is their problem is. They can ask what it is the provider would do if engaged by them and they can ask for approximate costs. They can then use that data to help in deciding who to engage. The face-to-face meeting is also useful for both parties to "size up" as it were the other to see if they would be happy doing business with each other. Something which a telephone call may not do. If the client is happy with the provider and their fee quote then any build-in for the initial consult or not, is largely irrelevant.

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Fair enough, but labelling this sort of "sizing up" meeting as a 'free initial consultation' and using it as an promotional hook to attract prospective clients is imho misleading, unless the service provider is prepared to dispense substantive advice at that first meeting.

T McGibney said:

Fair enough, but labelling this sort of "sizing up" meeting as a 'free initial consultation' and using it as an promotional hook to attract prospective clients is imho misleading, unless the service provider is prepared to dispense substantive advice at that first meeting.

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Many service providers dispense free substantive advice ( AAM being I believe one of the best examples around of this and long may it continue) and often do not get new business as a result. In the climate we have that's the way it is. Gone are the days when professionals ( accountants included ) can sit happily with the business queuing up at the door, picking and choosing what they want, charging, in some cases extraordinary fees for sometimes quite ordinary advice. The period post-2007 has, I believe opened many professionals to the fact that they have to work to get clients and work to retain them and that it is the client and not the professional who is in the driving seat in the relationship. I think the saying might be that it's "put manners on them".

P.S. Who was it that said that "free advice is worth every penny that was paid for it" ?

Graham_07 said:

The period post-2007 has, I believe opened many professionals to the fact that they have to work to get clients and work to retain them and that it is the client and not the professional who is in the driving seat in the relationship. I think the saying might be that it's "put manners on them".

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And proper order too...

T McGibney said:

Fair enough, but labelling this sort of "sizing up" meeting as a 'free initial consultation' and using it as an promotional hook to attract prospective clients is imho misleading, unless the service provider is prepared to dispense substantive advice at that first meeting.

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Under no circumstances should the professional "dispense substantive advice at that first meeting".

That's a recipe for attracting messers.