Rental Income - must you register for income tax?

Can anyone tell me if its necessary to register for income tax if you are in receipt of rental income and are a PAYE worker. Last year I just submitted a form 12 with all the details. They sent me the balancing statement and all seemed ok. Now the revenue are telling me I must register for Income Tax and use a Form 11 to complete my returns.

What happened was when the tennants applied for rent relief, my partner gave his RSI number on the form, and the revenue automatically registered him for Income Tax. In october last year I did both our returns seperately using form 12's. I got a balancing statement showing I owed a small amount but they would not be collecting it. He got a bill for a small amount saying it should be paid.
He wrote to them explaining the situation and querying why our submissions were treated differently. They sent a letter back saying I too must register and send in a form 11 next year.
I thought that you just needed to send in the form 12 and that would be that?
Anyone throw any light on this?
Thanks,
Ger.

Yes you must register for income tax. If you are not fully aware of the ins and outs of the self-assessment tax system and the procedures governing the taxation of rental income, then you need appropriate professional advice.

If you don't mind me saying so, your partner's query to the Revenue was not the smartest move in the world. If the official(s) in the Revenue who processed the query has reason to suspect that either of you may be underpaying tax due to a lack of understanding of some of the issues involved, they may earmark your files for special attention. If you are making other mistakes in the calculation and/or payment of your tax liabilities these could come back to haunt you.

FYI-you are also obliged to register with the PRTB unless the rental income is derived solely from the Rent a Room Scheme.

I think the phrase "a friend of mine was wondering.........?"! is possibly a better approach with revenue?

Hi,
Firstly, I am registered with the PRTB.

Secondly, I thinks this is a fantastic forum and it does give some great advice, however I take your point that I should seek professional tax advice,

Previously in this forum, on more that one occasion, posters gave the advice that there was no need to register for rental income, just fill in a form 12 yearly stating your rental income.
Now today, the advice is being given that you must register.
The caveat at the start of the TAX forum should be heeded, so for any other small time property investors out there who is using AAM as their source for Tax Advice, and I'd say there are a few, be careful.

I hope this post doesn't sound like I'm being critical of the site, because that is far from my intention.

geri said:

Hi,

Previously in this forum, on more that one occasion, posters gave the advice that there was no need to register for rental income, just fill in a form 12 yearly stating your rental income.

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I believe this is the case if you are PAYE. I'm PAYE with a number of investment properties. I haven't registered with revenue. They haven't mentioned anything to me about registering. They take my money though! I just fill out Form 12.

geri said:

The caveat at the start of the TAX forum should be heeded, so for any other small time property investors out there who is using AAM as their source for Tax Advice, and I'd say there are a few, be careful.

Click to expand...

AAM can be a very useful reference/guide, but yes you should treat some of the information with caution