Sir, – I note your article on the Central Statistics Office (CSO) investigation into the large discrepancy between number of registered landlords with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) and the number of households registered as rented in the 2022 census (News, July 30th). A contributing factor to this discrepancy is the number of landlords not registered with the RTB and requesting cash from their tenants. While most landlords are compliant with the RTB and pay their taxes, a sizeable number are tempted to avoid the RTB registration and avoid the high rate of tax on rental income. During the recent local election campaign, I came across a few cases of young people who could not claim the annual rental tax credit of €750 per annum as they had agreed to pay their rent in cash to their landlord. I have written to both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure to consider increasing the annual tax credit for renters in the next budget as this would put more pressure on non-compliant landlords. I also believe the RTB should have enforcement officers on the ground checking for non-registered landlords as the present voluntary compliance system is not working. – Is mise,
Cllr PETER DOYLE,
(Fine Gael),
Castletroy,
Limerick.