First time Buyers tax break

[Semafi]

Hi

Currently i am renting in Ireland and am looking to buy a house in the near future here - however i have just purchased a property abroad.
I have seen an article on the independent today which says that people will not avail of the first time buyers tax break if they have already own a property abroad - does anybody have a way around this or know somebody who i can consult?

Please help!

 

[jhegarty]

Hi

Currently i am renting in Ireland and am looking to buy a house in the near future here - however i have just purchased a property abroad.
I have seen an article on the independent today which says that people will not avail of the first time buyers tax break if they have already own a property abroad - does anybody have a way around this or know somebody who i can consult?

Please help!

A first-time buyer is defined as a person (or where there is more than one buyer, each person):

Who has not on any previous occasion, either individually or jointly, purchased or built on his/her own behalf a house in Ireland or abroad;



so your not a ftb , and will have to pay full stamp duty... sorry

 

[ClubMan]

If this is an investment property (and I assume it is based on the forum in which this query was posted) then the first time buyer status is irrelevant since you will be buying as an investor. If, however, you are buying as an owner occupier then having already bought a property (regardless of the fact that it is abroad) then you are not a first time buyer. In this case however you may still qualify for the preferential rate of first time buyer owner occupier mortgage interest relief if this is your first mortgage in Ireland but I'm not 100% sure about this. The other things affected by non first time buyer status are stamp duty rates on certain properties and qualification for certail loans (some lenders offer certain loans to FTBs only - e.g. 100% mortgages). There is no legitimate way around the fact that your foreign property purchase causes you to lose your FTB status.

Post crossed with previous one.

 

[asdfg]

Clubman,

Have you read the article. The jist is that you can buy a property abroad through a company and still avail of the FTB status. See here

Could the same not happen in Ireland. FTB buys a house (investment) through a company and still avail of the FTB status when it comes to buy PDH .

 

[ClubMan]

Could the same not happen in Ireland. FTB buys a house (investment) through a company and still avail of the FTB status when it comes to buy PDH .

This is all irrelevant to the original query since the poster in question has ostensibly already bought a property abroad in an individual capacity and, as such, has lost his/her FTB status.

As for the general idea of buying property through a company I believe that the costs and other considerations involved might make this worthwhile only in very limited situations if at all. This was discussed in detail a few times in the past if I recall correctly - for example here.