No. Local Property Tax (LPT) is not a deductible expense against rental income in Ireland. Revenue lists LPT directly among the costs a landlord cannot claim when working out rental profit or loss, alongside pre-letting costs and capital improvements. That surprises a lot of landlords, since LPT is a real, unavoidable cost of owning the property you let. Below we cover why LPT is treated differently to expenses like mortgage interest and repairs, what “LPT wage deductions” actually means, and which rental costs you can claim instead.
Why Isn’t LPT an Allowable Rental Expense?
Revenue treats LPT as a personal tax on owning residential property, not as a cost of running a rental business. Its own guidance on rental income, last updated in December 2025, lists Local Property Tax under “What expenses are not allowed”, alongside pre-letting costs, post-letting costs, capital improvements, and interest that built up before the property was first let.
The logic comes down to a test Revenue applies to every claimed expense: it has to be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of earning rental income. Mortgage interest, repairs, and management fees pass that test, they only exist because you’re letting the property. LPT doesn’t. You owe LPT simply for owning a residential property in Ireland, whether it’s let, empty, or lived in by you. Because the charge isn’t tied to the act of letting, it fails the test and stays off the list of allowable expenses.
Does It Matter How You Pay LPT, Through Wages or Otherwise?
No, and this is where a lot of the confusion around “LPT wage deductions” comes from. Paying LPT through your salary is called Deduction at Source (DAS), one of several payment methods Revenue offers alongside a single annual payment or a phased direct debit. It has nothing to do with tax deductibility. It’s simply a way of spreading your LPT bill evenly across the year, deducted from your net pay the same way a savings scheme might be.
If you choose DAS, Revenue issues your employer a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) showing the amount to deduct, and your employer spreads it evenly across your remaining pay periods that year. It shows up on your payslip as a separate line, the same way PAYE, USC, and PRSI do. None of that changes whether LPT can be claimed against rental income. It still can’t, regardless of whether you pay it in one go, by direct debit, or through your wages.
Does LPT Apply to Commercial Rental Property?
No. LPT only applies to residential property. If you let commercial premises, a shop, an office, a unit, you pay commercial rates to the local authority instead of LPT. Commercial rates aren’t on Revenue’s disallowed list, so they’re generally treated as a normal deductible cost of running the letting, unlike LPT on a residential property.
The rule also applies the same way whether you own the rental property personally or through a company. Revenue uses the same computation rules for Irish rental income across individuals, companies, estates, and trusts, so a limited company letting residential property faces the same LPT exclusion an individual landlord does.
Which Rental Expenses Can You Actually Claim Instead?
LPT sits on a short list of exclusions. Most of the day-to-day costs of running a rental property are allowable, provided they relate directly to earning the rental income and you keep proper records. For the full breakdown, see our guide to rental income tax deductions in Ireland and our page on what expenses a landlord can claim.
| Allowable rental expenses | Not allowed (includes LPT) |
|---|---|
| Mortgage interest (property must be RTB registered) | Local Property Tax (LPT) |
| Repairs and maintenance | Pre-letting expenses, with limited exceptions for vacant residential property |
| Letting agent and management fees | Post-letting expenses |
| Insurance | Capital expenses on improvements, unless covered by an incentive scheme |
| Advertising for tenants | Interest that built up before the property was first let |
| Legal and accountancy fees | The cost of your own labour on repairs |
| Wear and tear (capital allowances on furniture and fittings) | |
| Verified bad debts |
In short: nearly every genuine running cost of the letting is deductible, LPT is one of a small number of specific exclusions Revenue carves out regardless of how the property is let or who owns it.
Quick Answers
Can I claim LPT against rental income? No. Revenue excludes it specifically when calculating rental profit or loss.
Is LPT an allowable expense for landlords? No, for any residential letting, long-term, short-term, or under the Rent-a-Room scheme.
Is LPT deductible if I pay it through wage deductions? No. Deduction at Source only changes how you pay LPT, not whether it can be claimed.
Is LPT deductible if my rental property is owned by a company? No, the same rental-income computation rules apply to companies as to individual landlords.
Does commercial rental property pay LPT? No, LPT applies to residential property only. Commercial premises pay rates instead, which are usually deductible.
Getting your allowable expenses right, and knowing which ones to leave off, makes a real difference to what you owe each October. If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your rental income return before you file, our Chartered Accountants can review your landlord tax position and your wider rental income tax return together.
