Renter tax credit - unregistered tenancy

Which has the higher value?

500 for each tenant vs 2% of the rent, etc.

This is an excellent policy that leads to more compliance.

The government should introduce tax relief for everyone for all expenditure that involves the labour of someone else.

This would help to eliminate people/businesses from offering "cash" prices and reduce the black economy.

You are already "below the market rate" in rent, I find this to be the main perk of having an unregistered landlord. I would be an honourable tenant and see out there remainder as is.

You sound like finances are well in order given that you're going buying within the next year so bringing friction on someone for the sake of 500e says more about you than it does about him.

If you are leaving next year anyway, you're probably better off trying for the credit. One of the purposes of the rental credit scheme is to collect data on tax-evading landlords, so it's very likely there will be some process in place to claim the credit even if your landlord isn't registered, especially since they'll be allowing licensees (whose license arrangements aren't registered at all anyway) to claim it. The whole system won't be in place until early next year anyway, and it would take at least 90 days for any rent increase to go through (and odds are your cowboy landlord hasn't bothered to research the regulations and will fail to issue a rent review notice correctly, thus delaying it even further), so you wouldn't really have to worry about your landlord retaliating by raising your rent (or at worst only have to pay a bit more for a couple months).

On the other hand, if you try to extort a €500 rent reduction from your landlord now, he might retaliate in any number of ways, ranging from the perfectly legal (such as a rent review and increase of 2.x% effective in 90 days, or a termination notice because he's decided that he'd rather sell the place than take a 50% haircut on his rental income) to the "illegal but will still cause you a massive amount of hassle" (such as having a few hard lads stop by to gently encourage you to take a walk and get some fresh air, and once you get out of the A&E you'll find the locks changed and all your stuff hauled away to be dumped in a skip or listed on Donedeal).

the LL isnt paying any interest on the mortgage, the tenant is via the rent.

The tenant pays the mortgage and the LL creams some further profit off the top for himself.

why should this LL be tax exempt?

And people who pay drug dealers for their habit don't feel any way responsible for the crime and loss of life caused by the trade. I'm alright Jack.

You don't know if your LL is actually evading tax. Claim your credit and stop trying to justify it.

Well the OP could happily let him fire away and do all those things you suggest, and use any subsequent court award towards his own property.

The landlord is by definition a property owner, and hence would have assets that could be recovered as compensation were he to go down that road

The 500 quid would be handy for Xmas op

It's a tax credit, not a cash payment. Will be spread over the year 🙄

If it’s like other income tax credits, you’ll probably have a couple of years to claim back the credit. So you could just wait until you’re moving out then claim the credit. Save yourself the increase, save any friction.

If landlord is breaking the law, that’s his problem. Wouldn’t cost me a passing thought.

Edit - apologies see this was suggested already. Don’t know how to delete

By giving the OP 'cheaper rent' the LL is well ahead IF he is not paying tax. Is the assumption that if you don't register as a LL you must be tax evading?

If landlord is breaking the law, that’s his problem. Wouldn’t cost me a passing thought.

If the landlord is not paying tax, he's literally stealing out of your pocket, but you don't care?

I meant it more along the lines of, I wouldn’t care at all if he got in trouble when the OP registers tenancy after he leaves the rental. I’d see it as a bonus.

So I agree with your sentiment but probably don’t feel it as strongly as you. I wouldn’t be going out of my way to get him in troubles