Nordie Citizen
New Member
- Messages
- 1
Background Information:
We are a cross border family. I’m originally from the Republic of Ireland and spouse is originally from Northern Ireland. We live in Northern Ireland although we both worked and lived most of our careers in the Republic of Ireland and our incomes derive from there. We moved permanently to NI 4 years ago when my wife retired although we had been up and down for a while. We built our “forever” house in NI which is future proofed as best as possible against any adverse ill-health issues and would allow for live-in assistance if required.
Age:
60
Spouse’s/Partner's age:
60
Annual gross income from employment or profession:
€45,000 part-time lecturer, public sector, ROI
€18,000pa DB pension 1, private sector, ROI
€10,000 consultancy income ROI. (Very variable, can ramp up or down, plenty work available in my field.)
Annual gross income spouse:
€30,000 pension, public sector ROI.
Type of employment:
Mixed public, private, retired.
Expenditure pattern:
We are both generally 'savers' but will splash out for good value luxuries.
Rough estimate of value of home
STG£700,000
Mortgage on home
Nil.
Do you own any investment or other property?
Yes, Dublin apartment valued at €250,000. Had been rented at below market rate, (thanks RPZ!) but now occupied rent free by daughter / son-in-law while they save for mortgage. Will be back on rental market in late 2024, after two years outside RPZ rules. Expected market rent about €1800pm. Possibility of younger son moving in though.
Mortgage provider:
PTSB
Type of mortgage: Tracker, interest only, fixed rate
Tracker, ECB + 1%, €120,000 balance on 25 year interest-only term until 2030. (due to a mistake by bank many years ago!)
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month?
Yes
Savings and investments:
STG£65,000 in equity ISA. (Available as we’re UK resident.) About STG£200,000 currently on deposit but about half earmarked for electric cars, solar PV and big holiday of a lifetime next year. The other half is available to invest.
Do you have a pension scheme?
Spouse: Receiving €30,000pa ROI pension. She will qualify for full ROI OAP and about a 50% UK OAP.
Self: Just started to receive €18,000pa ROI private sector DB pension.
€400,000 DC pension fund from previous private sector employment ROI.
Member of SPSPS scheme in South since late 2021.
Will qualify for full ROI OAP and partial UK OAP.
Ages of children:
31yo - has already been helped buy a home. (ROI)
29yo - well on way to home ownership, intends to purchase in about 12 months’ time. (ROI)
27yo – has already been helped buy a home (NI)
24yo – finished college, working in NI.
21yo – finished college, working in ROI.
We want to help the youngest two with home ownership when they’re ready to buy.
Life insurance:
No. Not needed.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Tax is a major issue. We have always been taxed separately as we variously lived and worked North and South of the border and it seemed less complicated to do it like that. Not sure if that was always a good idea but it seemed so at the time. We are both now tax-resident, and ordinarily tax-resident, in NI. We are not tax-resident in the ROI, although we obviously have a tax liability there. We are taxed under PAYE in the South on our pensions and my salary. I do a ROS return for my consultancy income. I also complete a HMRC tax return although the liability is zero to minimal but I pay National Insurance to build up a partial UK pension. Under the Double Taxation treaty, I believe my Southern salary (being public sector) is only taxable in the ROI and not in NI. Similarly, spouse has been told by HMRC that her pension (and formerly her salary) is not taxable in NI and she doesn’t need to file a return.
Q1. Can I get a PAYE exclusion order on my Southern private sector pension? At the moment, it is fully taxed at the marginal rate in the ROI. If it was excluded, then it becomes taxable in NI, but I would have the full personal band to set against it. And no USC either so it would be almost tax free. If I did get an exclusion order, would I retain my ROI credits and bands?
Q2. Can I transfer my DC pension pot to a UK scheme and draw it down as required while paying UK tax on it? Standard rate band in UK is STG£50,000. We don’t want to pay higher rate tax on it.
Q3. Is there an advantage to us in opting for joint assessment (ROI) as my wife has unused standard rate band available?
Q4. Does it make sense to keep the Dublin apartment? At 1% for the last while it certainly did, and I imagine rates will go back down in the next year or two. Even if they don’t, it still can generate a good return and we always saw this as part of our pension provision.
Q5. Even though we are both covered by the NHS, we opted over the years to take out VHI cover also. My old employer used to pay most of this for all the family so the decision was easy. When I retired early from there 18 months ago, I kept up the payments myself and still do. The NHS is not as good as it used to be (and getting worse!) and we would like to remain covered for private hospitals in the ROI. Is this sensible? Cost is about €3000pa.
Q6. Any advice on investments? We are using our ISAs to invest in index tracking ETFs and some selected shares. Returns are free of income tax and CGT. We plan on adding the maximum allowable of £20k pa over the next few years. Is this a wise strategy? Should we keep more in cash deposits?
Q7. Should I take out a PRSA (in ROI) and max out my contributions to it over the next few years based on my salary and consultancy income? Or at least pay enough to take me out of the high rate of tax?
Q8. Is there anything else I’m missing?
Thanks in advance for any advice. I love this site and have lurked around it for ages and picked up a few useful ideas along the way. It’s a pity there’s nothing like it specifically for Northern Ireland!
We are a cross border family. I’m originally from the Republic of Ireland and spouse is originally from Northern Ireland. We live in Northern Ireland although we both worked and lived most of our careers in the Republic of Ireland and our incomes derive from there. We moved permanently to NI 4 years ago when my wife retired although we had been up and down for a while. We built our “forever” house in NI which is future proofed as best as possible against any adverse ill-health issues and would allow for live-in assistance if required.
Age:
60
Spouse’s/Partner's age:
60
Annual gross income from employment or profession:
€45,000 part-time lecturer, public sector, ROI
€18,000pa DB pension 1, private sector, ROI
€10,000 consultancy income ROI. (Very variable, can ramp up or down, plenty work available in my field.)
Annual gross income spouse:
€30,000 pension, public sector ROI.
Type of employment:
Mixed public, private, retired.
Expenditure pattern:
We are both generally 'savers' but will splash out for good value luxuries.
Rough estimate of value of home
STG£700,000
Mortgage on home
Nil.
Do you own any investment or other property?
Yes, Dublin apartment valued at €250,000. Had been rented at below market rate, (thanks RPZ!) but now occupied rent free by daughter / son-in-law while they save for mortgage. Will be back on rental market in late 2024, after two years outside RPZ rules. Expected market rent about €1800pm. Possibility of younger son moving in though.
Mortgage provider:
PTSB
Type of mortgage: Tracker, interest only, fixed rate
Tracker, ECB + 1%, €120,000 balance on 25 year interest-only term until 2030. (due to a mistake by bank many years ago!)
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month?
Yes
Savings and investments:
STG£65,000 in equity ISA. (Available as we’re UK resident.) About STG£200,000 currently on deposit but about half earmarked for electric cars, solar PV and big holiday of a lifetime next year. The other half is available to invest.
Do you have a pension scheme?
Spouse: Receiving €30,000pa ROI pension. She will qualify for full ROI OAP and about a 50% UK OAP.
Self: Just started to receive €18,000pa ROI private sector DB pension.
€400,000 DC pension fund from previous private sector employment ROI.
Member of SPSPS scheme in South since late 2021.
Will qualify for full ROI OAP and partial UK OAP.
Ages of children:
31yo - has already been helped buy a home. (ROI)
29yo - well on way to home ownership, intends to purchase in about 12 months’ time. (ROI)
27yo – has already been helped buy a home (NI)
24yo – finished college, working in NI.
21yo – finished college, working in ROI.
We want to help the youngest two with home ownership when they’re ready to buy.
Life insurance:
No. Not needed.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Tax is a major issue. We have always been taxed separately as we variously lived and worked North and South of the border and it seemed less complicated to do it like that. Not sure if that was always a good idea but it seemed so at the time. We are both now tax-resident, and ordinarily tax-resident, in NI. We are not tax-resident in the ROI, although we obviously have a tax liability there. We are taxed under PAYE in the South on our pensions and my salary. I do a ROS return for my consultancy income. I also complete a HMRC tax return although the liability is zero to minimal but I pay National Insurance to build up a partial UK pension. Under the Double Taxation treaty, I believe my Southern salary (being public sector) is only taxable in the ROI and not in NI. Similarly, spouse has been told by HMRC that her pension (and formerly her salary) is not taxable in NI and she doesn’t need to file a return.
Q1. Can I get a PAYE exclusion order on my Southern private sector pension? At the moment, it is fully taxed at the marginal rate in the ROI. If it was excluded, then it becomes taxable in NI, but I would have the full personal band to set against it. And no USC either so it would be almost tax free. If I did get an exclusion order, would I retain my ROI credits and bands?
Q2. Can I transfer my DC pension pot to a UK scheme and draw it down as required while paying UK tax on it? Standard rate band in UK is STG£50,000. We don’t want to pay higher rate tax on it.
Q3. Is there an advantage to us in opting for joint assessment (ROI) as my wife has unused standard rate band available?
Q4. Does it make sense to keep the Dublin apartment? At 1% for the last while it certainly did, and I imagine rates will go back down in the next year or two. Even if they don’t, it still can generate a good return and we always saw this as part of our pension provision.
Q5. Even though we are both covered by the NHS, we opted over the years to take out VHI cover also. My old employer used to pay most of this for all the family so the decision was easy. When I retired early from there 18 months ago, I kept up the payments myself and still do. The NHS is not as good as it used to be (and getting worse!) and we would like to remain covered for private hospitals in the ROI. Is this sensible? Cost is about €3000pa.
Q6. Any advice on investments? We are using our ISAs to invest in index tracking ETFs and some selected shares. Returns are free of income tax and CGT. We plan on adding the maximum allowable of £20k pa over the next few years. Is this a wise strategy? Should we keep more in cash deposits?
Q7. Should I take out a PRSA (in ROI) and max out my contributions to it over the next few years based on my salary and consultancy income? Or at least pay enough to take me out of the high rate of tax?
Q8. Is there anything else I’m missing?
Thanks in advance for any advice. I love this site and have lurked around it for ages and picked up a few useful ideas along the way. It’s a pity there’s nothing like it specifically for Northern Ireland!