Non-resident landlords in Ireland: the 20% a tenant withholds, and the collection agent’s choice

A tenant in Dublin pays EUR 2,000 a month straight into her landlord’s account. The landlord moved to Toronto in 2024. Since 1 July 2023, that tenant should be sending EUR 400 of every payment to Revenue and filing a notification each time. Nobody has to opt in. The duty applies as soon as the rent goes directly to a landlord who lives outside Ireland.

For letting agents and property management companies, the question comes from the other side. An owner moves abroad, or buys from abroad, and asks you to collect the rent. The moment you agree, the 20% duty moves off the tenant and onto you, and you have to decide how to carry it.

This guide covers the rule for tenants, the two routes open to a collection agent, how HAP is handled, and what the landlord still has to do. Every point comes from the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and Revenue’s own manuals, listed at the end.

Who counts as a non-resident landlord

The test in section 1041 of the Taxes Consolidation Act is whether the landlord’s “usual place of abode is outside the State”. It is a practical test about where the landlord lives, and it is not the same thing as tax residence. Revenue’s own pages use “non-resident” as shorthand for it.

The rule covers residential and commercial lettings, and applies to individuals and companies. A company landlord based abroad pays corporation tax on Irish rent. An individual pays income tax and USC.

Where the rent is paid does not change anything. Revenue’s manual is explicit: “Payment into a bank account in the landlord’s name is treated as payment directly to the landlord, even if the bank account is within the State.”

When the tenant pays directly: the 20%

A tenant paying a non-resident landlord directly must deduct tax at the standard rate, currently 20%, from the gross rent. They pay that to Revenue through the Non-Resident Landlord Withholding Tax system, which started on 1 July 2023, and pay the landlord the remaining 80%. On EUR 2,000 a month, that is EUR 400 to Revenue and EUR 1,600 to the landlord.

Each payment is reported with a Rental Notification, filed in myAccount or ROS. A tenant can file each one by hand, set up a monthly repeat, or upload a batch. A tenant who pays weekly can file one notification a month for the total. To file, the tenant needs:

• the landlord’s name and address;
• the property’s Local Property Tax ID, which the landlord is obliged to provide;
• the landlord’s contact details (email and phone number), if the tenant does not have the landlord’s tax reference number.

The tenant can give the landlord the PDF acknowledgement of each notification as a record. The old Form R185 is obsolete for rent paid after 30 June 2023, and tenants no longer put the tax through their own Form 11 or Form 12 or adjust their PAYE credits. Deducting the tax does not make the tenant a chargeable person.

On timing, the Act says the tax must be paid “forthwith”. Revenue’s manual reads that as no more than 7 days after the rent is paid for individual tenants. One Revenue web page says 21 days. Working to the manual keeps you on the safe side of both.

Where a property is jointly owned and only one owner lives abroad, only that owner’s share of the rent is subject to the 20%.

When there is a collection agent

A collection agent is anyone in Ireland who collects the rent for the landlord. Revenue lists an estate agent, a management company, a solicitor, or anyone else the landlord nominates. The one condition is that the agent is resident in Ireland.

Once rent is paid to an Irish collection agent, the tenant’s role ends. Revenue’s manual says the tenant “is not obliged or entitled to deduct withholding tax from the rent.” The tenant pays in full, and the tax question passes to the agent.

This is the most common arrangement for owners abroad, and it is why the rule matters to letting agents more than to anyone else.

The agent’s choice: withhold, or be chargeable

Since 1 July 2023 an agent has 2 options. Revenue strongly encourages the first, but the second is still allowed.

Option 1: operate the withholding system. Each time you receive rent, you file a Rental Notification and pay 20% of the gross rent to Revenue, using the landlord’s name, address, LPT ID, tax reference number and tax type. Revenue’s manual expects this by the 1st of the month after the rent is collected. You are then not chargeable for that income, you do not register as a collection agent, and you do not file a tax return for it. If you also want to file the landlord’s annual return, that is a separate role: you register as a tax agent.

Option 2: be a chargeable collection agent. Under section 1034, the landlord is assessed in your name. You register on Revenue’s collection agent form, get a collector appointed number, and file returns and self-assess on the landlord’s rental profit after allowable expenses. You are “personally and fully liable” for the tax, plus any interest, surcharges and penalties. Section 1046(2) lets you keep back enough of the rent to pay it.

The practical difference is cash. Withholding takes 20% of the gross rent every month, whatever the landlord’s real liability. A landlord with a large mortgage may owe much less than that, and Revenue allows no interim refunds, so the excess only comes back when the landlord files their annual return. A chargeable agent pays tax on the actual profit, but carries the liability and a return for every landlord.

Doing neither is not an option. An agent who does not file the notification or pay the 20% is treated as chargeable under section 1034 anyway.

HAP and RAS

Revenue treats HAP and RAS payments as ordinary rent for this purpose. Where a local authority pays HAP straight to a non-resident landlord, the local authority withholds the 20% and files the notification itself, as the payer. It needs the landlord’s tax reference number and LPT ID to do it.

If the tenant also pays a top-up above the HAP amount, that top-up is handled separately: by the collection agent if there is one, or by the tenant if not. With no top-up, the local authority’s notifications cover everything. Our page on HAP for landlords covers the payment side.

What the landlord still has to do

Withholding does not end the landlord’s own obligations. A non-resident landlord has to:

• register for income tax, or corporation tax for a company, before any notifications are made;
• file a Form 11 or CT1 under their own tax reference number, covering all their Irish income, not only the rent;
• claim any notification a tenant filed without their tax reference number, using the property’s LPT ID, so the credit appears on the return.

The 20% withheld is a credit against the landlord’s tax, pre-filled on the return, and any excess is refunded. Allowable expenses still come off the rent, as they would for any landlord. Our guide to tax on rental income in Ireland lists them.

The tenancy must also be registered with the RTB, within one month of the start and every year after. There is no exception for landlords who live abroad. A landlord without a PPS number can open an RTB account with ID and a utility bill showing their address outside Ireland, and an agent can register on their behalf.

That registration protects the mortgage interest deduction, which is lost for the whole year if any tenancy in the property is not registered. Revenue is clear about who bears it: where a management company fails to register, “it is the owner, and not the management company, that will suffer the loss of an interest deduction.”

When nobody deducts

If a tenant files a notification but the payment fails, Revenue pursues the tenant for the amount. If no notification is filed at all, Revenue’s manual says it “is unable to pursue NLWT tax” and the landlord remains liable for the income tax on the rent. Revenue can assess the landlord at their foreign address and use its attachment powers to collect.

For an agent, the position is simpler and worse. An agent who collects rent and neither withholds nor registers is chargeable under section 1034, with interest and penalties if it falls behind.

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026, published on 19 October 2026, does not change any of these rules as introduced. It is still before the Oireachtas, so check the final Act if you are reading this after December. Our Budget 2027 guide for landlords covers what it does change.

How we handle this in Rentalize

Rentalize does not file Rental Notifications or pay the 20% to Revenue for you. What it does is keep the records that make either route straightforward. On Growth and above, Rentalize Core keeps client money accounts with a ring-fenced ledger for every landlord and tenancy, reconciled against your pooled client account. Owner statements come in PDF and CSV, one click per landlord or in bulk from a payment run, and SEPA payout files handle landlord remittances.

That means the rent collected for each owner abroad and what was paid out to them sit on one ledger, which is the figure you work the 20% from on the 1st of each month, or the profit from at return time.

If you collect rent for owners abroad, you can book a 20-minute walkthrough or check pricing.

Questions

Do I have to deduct tax if my landlord lives abroad?

Yes, if you pay the rent directly to the landlord, including into their bank account in Ireland. You deduct 20% of the gross rent, pay it to Revenue with a Rental Notification through myAccount or ROS, and pay the landlord the other 80%. If you pay an Irish collection agent instead, you pay in full and deduct nothing.

What is a collection agent for a non-resident landlord?

Anyone resident in Ireland who collects the rent on the landlord’s behalf, such as an estate agent, a management company or a solicitor. The agent either withholds 20% through Revenue’s system or registers as a chargeable agent and is taxed on the landlord’s rental profit.

Does a collection agent have to use the withholding system?

No. An agent can instead register with Revenue as a chargeable collection agent under section 1034, file returns and pay the landlord’s tax. But an agent must do one or the other. An agent that does neither is treated as chargeable anyway.

When does the 20% have to be paid to Revenue?

The Act says forthwith. Revenue’s manual reads that as within 7 days of the rent being paid for an individual tenant, and by the 1st of the following month for a collection agent.

Does a landlord living abroad have to register with the RTB?

Yes. The Residential Tenancies Act applies to the property, not to where the landlord lives. The tenancy must be registered within one month of its start and every year after. A landlord without a PPS number can register using ID and a utility bill showing their address abroad.

Sources: Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, sections 238, 1034, 1041 and 1046, as amended by Finance Act 2022 section 92 and Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 section 25; S.I. No. 326 of 2023; Revenue Tax and Duty Manuals 45-01-04, 45-01-04A and 04-08-10; Revenue pages on non-resident landlords, NLWT and collection agents; Revenue Notes for Guidance, Finance Act 2025 edition; RTB guidance on registration; Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026 as initiated. This is general information, not tax advice.

Photo: Dublin Airport Terminal 2 by 瑞丽江的河水, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.