Efforts to tax rental income‘haphazard and ineffective’

EFFORTS by the tax authorities to verify that landlords are properly declaring rental income have been branded “haphazard and ineffective” by the Government’s financial watchdog.

Comptroller & Auditor General CAG) John Purcell expressed concern that Revenue officials were only able to match 42% of rent supplement payments to the tax records of actual landlords.

He told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee that a Revenue audit of rent supplements paid out by the Department of Social and Family Affairs in 2005 was unable to match almost 53,000 records worth more than €197.4m.