Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2016
102. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance with respect to the home renovation incentive scheme, the options available to a person who has paid a contractor to complete work but the contractor refuses to register the work with the Revenue Commissioners and allow the person to claim the credits; and his views on this anomaly. [5309/16]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that if an individual wishes to avail of the Home Renovation Incentive, the contractor must provide the Revenue Commissioners with certain information before the contractor commences work and before the individual pays the contractor for the work. If the contractor refuses to input the work details the individual should contact their local Revenue office with full details of the contractor so that the matter can be followed up. Alternatively, the Deputy may wish to send the details directly to Revenue.
The following information should be provided by the contractor through the Home Renovation Incentive online system (ROS):
- the Local Property Tax reference number of the property on which the qualifying work is to be carried out;
- the name of the claimant;
- the address of the property at which the work will be carried out;
- a description of the work to be carried out;
- the estimated cost of the work to be carried out;
- the estimated start date and estimated end date;
- whether the property is a rental property; and
- where the rental property will be converted into more than one rental unit, the number of rental units.
On receipt of the information outlined above, the contractor will be notified, through the Home Renovation Incentive online system, whether or not he or she is a qualifying contractor for the purposes of the Incentive. If the contractor is a qualifying contractor, he or she will be allocated a unique reference number for the work.
In addition, if the contractor is a qualifying contractor, the homeowner/landlord will be able, through the Home Renovation Incentive online system, to check that the contractor is a qualifying contractor for the purposes of the Incentive. The homeowner/landlord will also be provided with the unique reference number for the work when checking the Home Renovation Incentive online system.
The confirmation in relation to the contractor and unique reference number for the work will be available for the homeowner/landlord to view at any time through the Home Renovation Incentive online system. It is the responsibility of the homeowner/landlord to check the online system to confirm that the contractor is a qualifying contractor.
The Incentive is designed in such a way that if work is not notified to the Home Renovation Incentive online system, the homeowner/landlord will not be able to claim a tax credit in respect of payments for the work. It is designed to give tax compliant contractors an advantage over unregistered contractors and to provide employment and business opportunities in the residential property renovation sector.
