Tax Liability cashing in a UK Endowment policy..?

[grandad089]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum, if so please move.

My wife and I bought a house in the UK 25 years ago using an endowment mortgage.
We sold the house over ten years ago when we moved back home but kept the endowment policy going for life insurance and we would have lost heavily if we cashed it.
Every month I transferred about £85 to my UK account to keep up the payments.
It matures this year and will be worth about £30K.

Will I have an Irish tax liability on this when it matures?
Can I keep the money in my UK account as I'd rather keep it in Sterling than lose out in the exchange rate?

I've already paid tax on every penny I've put in there and basically little more than I've paid in over the years.
Do I need to even tell them?
I'm a normal PAYE earner.

Thanks

 

[Marc]

If "home" was always Ireland and it was always your intention to return home then arguably the policy was unsuitable when it was sold to you for the reasons you are now finding out.

You probably had grounds to complain back in the 1990s when endowment mortgages were under the spotlight in the UK.

however, you will only pay tax on any gain in excess of the premiums paid which from the sound of it will be very modest.

Arguably this is an offshore policy in which you have no material interest and so normal capital gain tax rules should apply but it is far from clear how Revenue want to treat policies like this.

Best to ask an accountant to work out the gain and submit an expression of doubt.

 

[moneybox]

That is an appaling return you received after paying into it for 25 years. You would have done better if you had put the £85 away in a savings account every month. Is it too late to make a complaint now?