Moving to Ireland from UK - tax

Melaina G

Hi

I am a UK citizen. I recently sold my U.K. home (in February 2020) and am looking to move to Ireland sometime in the next 6 months to live with my Irish de facto partner.

For tax purposes should I move in the tax year 2020 or should I move in the 2021 tax year?

Is there anything else from a tax perspective that I should be aware of i.e. sending my savings and sales proceeds from my U.K. bank account to a new Irish bank account?

Thanks

ronivek

There's a decent Government site that should help answer many of your questions: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/

Residence for tax purposes:

You are resident for tax purposes for a year if:

1) You spend 183 days or more in Ireland in that year from 1 January – 31 December or,
2) If you spend 280 days or more in Ireland over a period of two consecutive tax years, you will be regarded as resident for the second tax year. For example, if you spend 140 days here in Year 1 and 150 days here in Year 2, you will be resident in Ireland for Year 2. You must be in Ireland for a minimum of 30 days each year.

You can apply to the Irish Revenue Service (https://www.revenue.ie/) for 'split-year treatment' from the date you arrive in Ireland; this would ensure you have the relevant tax credits and can go ahead and earn an income in Ireland as soon as you arrive. However I believe this would also make you tax resident in Ireland for the entire year for non-employment related income (i.e. you would become liable for tax on income related to the house sale).

In terms of the income from the sale of your house I'm not 100% on the liabilities involved should you not become tax resident in 2020. It's possible you may be liable for Irish CGT on any moneys you transferred to your Irish Bank Account in the year of sale if you were to arrive in Ireland before the end of the year.

Another thing to consider is you're going to presumably be moving a significant amount of money held in a GBP bank account to a EUR bank account; and there can be relatively high fees involved. You're also impacted by the currency exchange rates which obviously change constantly. How significant is the amount involved here roughly?

I'm also not sure what your tax liabilities might be back in the UK when you move; have you verified that side of things?

Spear

Try the tax forum instead:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1208

Melaina G

Thank you, your advice is much appreciated. It's circa 300K GBP we will need to transfer over to EUR. And yes, the UK tax side of things is being sorted out.

Melaina G

Thanks - will post there!