Making Voluntary Contributions - Possibilities?

Sminkypinky

I'm seeking advice on making voluntary contributions towards the irish government pension. I'm apologising in advance for my ignorance on the subjects below, here goes:

I worked in Ireland for many years, say from 1993 -2011 when the recession kicked in and I was made redundant as so many thousands of others were.

I found a job abroad, emigrated, and I've been here ever since. I expect to be here for another few years, after which time I'll return home and I'll either be retired, or close to retirement, or maybe do freelance work in the UK and other countries (there's not much call for my line of work in my fairly remote corner of Ireland).

A few years back, I tried to restart my Irish government pension but was told I'd been out of the system too long. It seems weird to me that the government is refusing my offer of money but that's how it is.

I was advised by Citizen's Information (great people, btw) that I need to put up at least one stamp in Ireland after which I'd be eligible to make contributions - in theory at least, there's no guarantee that my application would be accepted.

The trouble is that the above is easier said than done when I'm working full-time 5000 miles away.

However, in the interim I managed to buy an old house and renovate it. My plan is to do short-term lets - possibly via airbnb - until such time as I have to return home.

So, basically my questions (possibly stupid questions, I know) are:

If I'm letting out my house and paying tax on the income, will I be making PRSI contributions - or can I pay contributions?

Is there any other way that I can put up a stamp and restart the contributions?

Any advice is greatly appreciated and welcome. Thank you in advance.


P.S. I'm not interested in private pension schemes, only the Irish government pension.

Jim2007

Sorry I can't answer your questions.

Have you already checked out if there is a social welfare agreement between Ireland and the country where you live? For instance there is an agreement to recognise Australian payments in Ireland in certain circumstances and so on.

Sminkypinky

Jim2007 wrote: »

Sorry I can't answer your questions.

Have you already checked out if there is a social welfare agreement between Ireland and the country where you live? For instance there is an agreement to recognise Australian payments in Ireland in certain circumstances and so on.

Unfortunately that won't work for me. There's no social welfare payments in my part of the world. But thank you anyway.

Geuze

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/e6f908-state-pension-contributory/


https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4f38a6-operational-guidelines-state-pension-contributory/

Geuze

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_insurance_prsi/voluntarysocialinsurancecontributions.html#:~:text=To%20be%20eligible%20to%20make%20voluntary%20contributions%20you%20must%3A,either%20employment%20or%20self%2Demployment&text=Agree%20to%20pay%20voluntary%20contributions,which%20you%20leave%20compulsory%20insurance

Rules
To be eligible to make voluntary contributions you must:

Have at least 520 PRSI contributions paid under compulsory insurance in either employment or self-employment
Apply to make your voluntary contribution within 60 months (5 years) of the end of the last completed tax year (contribution year) during which you last paid compulsory insurance or you were last awarded a credited contribution. (Since February 2017, the time limit for making voluntary contributions was extended from 12 months to 60 months.)
Agree to pay voluntary contributions from the start of the contribution week that follows the week in which you leave compulsory insurance
The contribution year is the same as the income tax year so it runs from January to December.

dark crystal

Is this rental property in Ireland? If you are non-resident, you are not liable for PRSI on rental income in Ireland, so you would not receive any stamps from this income.

Unfortunately, you would need to somehow re-enter compulsory insurance in Ireland before being accepted into the Voluntary Contributions scheme, even for a week. Without this, you wouldn't qualify, based on the fact your last paid contribution was more than 5 years ago.

Sminkypinky

dark crystal wrote: »

Is this rental property in Ireland? If you are non-resident, you are not liable for PRSI on rental income in Ireland, so you would not receive any stamps from this income.

Unfortunately, you would need to somehow re-enter compulsory insurance in Ireland before being accepted into the Voluntary Contributions scheme, even for a week. Without this, you wouldn't qualify, based on the fact your last paid contribution was more than 5 years ago.

Thank you and thanks to all who have answered.

I'm mulling the idea of coming home on holiday for a couple of weeks and doing some work for a friend who has his own business. I think he can then put up a stamp or two for me and then I can make the voluntary contributions.