Mortgage Interest Relief for wife

Hi

I bought my house in June 2004 as a single person. Last year in February 2011 I got married and rang the tax office to advise them as I thought my wife should be entitled to TRS as she loses her FTB status by default.

I didn't really know whether my own was changing last year and with Ulster Bank applying 3 increases last year it was hard to know whether they actually applied it.

Can anyone explain how this works? does my wifes entitlement last as long as mine? Or does it begin from when we got married and run for 7 years or what? Just trying to avoid getting screwed here.

I notice my mortgage went from €1,094 to €1,198 today which I take it has to do with my TRS changing with the budget.

I see from other posts that that the systems havent been update to take into accoutn the change to the mortgage interest relief rate. But am none the wiser about the wife's entitlement.

Peteb,

my understanding of the TRS is that you have to buy a property to be eligible for this tax relief and you have to take out a mortgage.
Is your wife on the mortgage with you ? if not then my understanding is that she cannot claim tax relief on a mortgage she does not have.

She's not on the mortgage with me as I bought it years before we married. Seems a bit unfair to say that she isn't eligble to claim TRS at source when the house automatically becomes the family home in legislation and she loses her FTB status with no benefit whatsoever.

yes, there may be additional relief due.

Hi Peteb,
my own situation is similar to yours in that I bought as a single person in 2004 and got married in 2010. My husband is not on the deeds as we didnt even know each other at that time! I have not changed the names on the mortgage since our marriage. There may be extra interest relief due to you & your wife, provided of course that you are paying enough interest.

Basically you will continue to get relief as a non-FTB (as you have the mortgage longer than 7yrs) at the same rate/threshold as you were getting previously. Your wife will start to get relief at FTB rate/threshold for 7yrs from 2011 onwards. So your mortgage will be receiving interest relief at 2 different rates. I gave an example of the calculation of the new interest relief in a previous thread, it might be of help to you:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=160567

You will need to submit your application for the additional relief online through www.revenue.ie but if you have any problems with it you should contact the Revenue TRS section at 1890 463626 - I found that amending the form to add my husband was a pain but that the TRS people were helpful enough!

Best of luck with it.