Can I find out what the 'sale agreed' price is? A house I am interested in had a "sale agreed" sign on it in October. It came down in November and I have confirmed with the agent that it is in fact now for sale again.
Can I find out what price it went sale agreed on? When a house is sold is the agent obliged to tell how much it went for - agents clearly tell you, The Irish Times, as we can see on the results page every week but when I asked an agent about a particular house I was told it was a private matter.
A private treaty sale can and often is just that, private. In the case of a public auction, any member of the public can wander into the auction and hear the price which is why the price is readily available to be made public. Agents in a private treaty sale do sometimes, but not always, tell the sales results section of this supplement what price a particular house sold for, or they will say it went "in the region of". Typically they will have the permission of their client to reveal the sales price.
Sometime house sellers explicitly tell an agent that the price is not to be divulged. In the case of the house you are interested in, if you knew what the "sale agreed" price was, you might get some idea what is the lowest price the seller was willing to accept - or maybe not, as the house could have gone sale agreed on any price. If telling you would help the sale, the agent might tell you, but is under no obligation to.
How do I declare rents earned from holiday home?
I have owned an apartment in Spain for the past four years and have rented it out for a couple of months a year during that time. It's all been to friends and family so there is no official paperwork as such. However I read recently that Revenue is becoming more interested in people who own property abroad and I am keen to regularise my situation.
You are right to get things sorted - the longer you leave tax matters the worse it inevitably gets. Overseas tax issues are complex and to help with your question we asked Willie Galvin from Dublin-based tax specialists Foreign Tax Returns Limited. He points out that everyone's tax issues are different but in general where a property is rented to any individual, the owner is liable to Spanish income tax on any rental income derived from a Spanish property. Tax will be charged at a flat rate of 24 per cent (since January 1st, 2007) and no deductions are available against the rental income for any expenses incurred. Under Spanish law there is also a deemed income tax on rental income (known as "Impuesto de la renta de no residents declaraciòn ordinaria" or IRNR). Effectively this provides that, where certain circumstances are met, the Spanish authorities can deem rental income to arise on the property.
Just to show how different tax matters are in Spain when compared with those that apply in this State, this can include where the property is exclusively for personal use and is not rented out. It is therefore crucial that anyone who owns any property in any country abroad gets professional tax advice and gets their affairs in order.
Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
