We’ve since decided to move to Dubai because we can’t afford the cost of living in Dublin anymore and will be much better paid in our professions in the UAE.
We were going to rent out our home in Ireland for at least a year. However, my mother mentioned that Revenue would be entitled to claw back the HTB tax rebate we received from the scheme if we move out. Is she right?
Laura, Dublin
A To qualify for the tax rebate available under the HTB scheme, you must adhere to certain conditions, including that you live in the property as your main home for five years after purchasing or building the property.
If you cease to occupy the property as your main residence before those five years are up, the HTB payment must be repaid to Revenue in whole or in part.
Occupation is deemed to cease if the claimant vacates the property and then rents it out to a third party. You’re obliged to notify Revenue if you do this.
If there was more than one first-time buyer who was party to the claim for HTB, no clawback would apply if at least one of the purchasers continued to occupy the residence for the minimum five-year period.
It’s likely you’ll have to repay your HTB claim. The amount of the clawback depends on how many years you occupied the property; given you’ve lived in it for three years, the clawback rate would be 60pc of the payment you received. If you continued to live there for a fourth year, the clawback rate would fall to 40pc.
You should also bear in mind that if you rent out your home while you’re living abroad, the rental income will be subject to Irish income tax, even if you don’t have any other Irish income at the time.
You’d have to file an annual Irish income tax return to declare tax payable on the net rental profits (after accounting for qualifying expenses incurred on renting out the property).
There are, however, reliefs available for small landlords that can somewhat minimise the tax bill.
Can we defer payment of the LPT? Illustration: Getty
Our home’s value is up by €180,000 in 10 years. Do we face a LPT hike?
Q My husband and I bought our home in 2015 for €200,000, and similar properties in our estate are now selling for €380,000. However, because I stayed home over the last couple of years to mind our three children, we live on one average income and our budget is very tight.
Right now, we’re trying to budget for our local property tax (LPT) bill. We’ve read that rising property prices mean that we will have to move up to a higher LPT band when we have to revalue the property on November 1 and that many councils are increasing the LPT by 15pc. Will we have to pay a much bigger LPT bill?
Caroline, Ennis
A The local property tax or LPT on your property is charged according to the valuation band in which your property will sit on November 1 this year.
You’ll need to determine the current market value of your property on that date to establish the amount of LPT that you’ll pay for 2026 and all the subsequent years through until 2030.
Revenue recently adjusted the local property tax bands and increased the base LPT charge slightly across each band.
Your LPT charge will increase if your property’s value has risen to such an extent since its last valuation that it’s now in a higher LPT band.
Based on a market value of €380,000, your property would likely fall into LPT rate band 3, which has an annual local property tax basic charge of €333.
This could well be higher than the LPT bill you faced when you had to value your home for LPT purposes in November 2021.
If the value of your property was between €200,001 and €262,500 back then, your property would have been in the LPT rate band 2, which meant it was liable for an annual LPT basic charge of €226 a year for the period 2022 to 2025.
You should note, too, that each local authority can increase or decrease the LPT rate in their area by as much as 15pc. This tweak is known as the “local adjustment factor” (LAF).
The applicable local adjustment factor in each district is published on Revenue’s website. Revenue has also published an LPT calculator for 2026, which can be a useful tool in helping you determine your LPT charge.
You must submit a valuation for your property in your LPT return by November 7.
When you submit this return, you must choose a preferred payment method. You can opt to make one single payment, such as via your debit card, or choose to spread your payments over the year, such as through direct debits.
You can defer payment of your LPT if you meet certain conditions, including on hardship grounds.
Please note, however, that a deferral isn’t the same as an exemption – and you will have to pay the tax eventually.
Rachel McKenna is senior tax manager with Orbitus Tax. You can email questions to gabrielle.monaghan@independent.ie