All you need to know aboutthe Help-to-Buy incentiveSherry FitzGerald
Our complete guide to the Help-to-Buy incentive
As part of our series of guides on Financial Services topics for first-time buyers, here you’ll find ourcomplete guide to the Irish government’s Help-to-Buy incentive, a tax refund initiative worth up to€20,000 to home-buyers in Ireland.
Our guide will help you to confirm if you qualify for the incentive, see how much you are entitled to andassess whether your possible new home fits the criteria. We’ll also detail the application process andprovide you with simple step-by-step instructions. This will help you register for, and ultimately secure
your tax refund, helping you raise that all-important deposit for your new home. And if you are buying
your first home in a new development, you should visit sherryfitz.ie and read our informative ‘First-Time
Buyers – New Homes’ guide, for plenty of helpful tips and advice.
At Sherry FitzGerald Mortgages, we’re with you every step of the way, offering advice on everything fromgetting mortgage-ready to the mortgage process itself. Review our guides online at sherryfitz.ie and if
you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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1. Background
Up to €20,000 available for first-time buyers with the Help-to-Buyincentive
The Help-to-Buy incentive is a government initiative designed to help you, as a first-time buyer, withraising the deposit needed to purchase a new house or apartment to live in as your home. Under
the incentive and in association with Revenue.ie, you may receive a refund or rebate of Income Taxand Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid over the previous four tax years. DIRT is a form of tax
on interest earned on bank accounts in Ireland and this is where your refund will come from.

4sherryfitz.ie2. Value
How much can you get?
The maximum tax rebate is 5% of the value of theproperty, up to €20,000. However, if you move, leaveor sell within five years from the date the house ishabitable, some or all of the rebate will have to berepaid.
For example, Jack and Kate want to buy a 3-bed
semi-detached home for €400,000. According to theCentral Bank guidelines, they will need a 10% deposit(€40,000) to purchase their home.
Under the Help-to-Buy incentive, they can now claim
back a tax rebate of €20,000 (5% of the value). Thismeans they now need to save a €20,000 deposit
themselves, and add it to their rebate, giving them afull deposit of €40,000 to put down.

3. Criteria
Do you qualify?
• First-time buyers• Owner-occupier• Borrowing at least 70% of the value of the property

Does the home you want to buy qualify?
• Newly built houses and apartments valued nohigher than €500,000• Self builds• Your builder or developer needs to be registeredwith the incentive

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4. Application
Six steps to making a claim and securing your refund1.

If you have not done so already, register with

4.

You will also need to provide details of theRevenue’s myAccount service at Revenue.

mortgage lender and of the mortgage, including

ie. To do this, you will need your personal

all deposits paid, and how much you are

public service (PPS) number, date of birth,borrowing from your lenderphone number, email and home address. Selfassessed taxpayers must be fully compliant

5.

Finally, you will need to upload your builder/developer’s details. Once the claim is submitted,

2.

Then, you need to complete a ‘form 12’ tax

as part of the claim process, the details will

return for each of the years on which you areneed to be verified by your builder/developer,

seeking a rebate of tax paid

who in turn will also confirm details of thepurchase with Revenue

3.

To complete the online application process,you will need to upload a copy of the signed6.

developer and deducted from the cost of theas well as details of the property, its purchaseproperty

price and the completion date. To find out
everything you need to know about buying a
new home, you can read our ‘First-Time Buyers– New Homes’ guide online at sherryfitz.ie

6Your refund will be paid directly to your builder/

new home contract, provided by your solicitor,sherryfitz.ie

How we can help
Raising the deposit to buy your new home is justone part of the mortgage preparation process. Visit
sherryfitz.ie to read our complete guide to ‘Getting
Mortgage Ready’ and understand how to get yourfinances in order before you start the application
phase.
While there, you can also complete our online
mortgage enquiry form, leave your details and amember of our team will be in touch very shortly.
If you are still unsure about any aspect of the mortgage
process, simply call us on 1850 3000 30 or email us atfinancialservices@sherryfitz.ie

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Warning: If you do not keep up your repayments you may lose your home.

Warning: Your home is at risk if you do not keep up payments on a mortgage or any other loan secured on.

Mortgage Insight DAC t/a Sherry FitzGerald Financial Services, Sherry FitzGerald Mortgages is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.