Buying Overseas & First Time Buyers Grant

Can anyone tell me if you purchase an overseas property, does that affect your qualification for a first time buyer's grant in Ireland, assuming the overseas property is in the EU?

The FTB grant was ablolished years ago! If you mean would such a purchase affect other FTB benefits such as rates of SD and mortgage interest tax relief then the answer is "yes". If you buy at home or abroad then you are no longer a FTB.

Hi Clubman

I am a FTB and was reading in the irish independent article from Edel Kennedy on 10/07/06 concerning FTB going abroad. she said

"buyers can establish a company through which they can buy properties. Because technically it is a company and not the individual that buys the property, the individual can retain their FTB status".

Is this correct?

If so should FTB go this direction to help getting them some way on the ladder through capital aprreciation of the overseas property.

This is a complex area. You should get independent, professional advice on it. This thread might be of interest but may not deal with all of the cross jurisdictional issues:

Company to hold investment property

ClubMan said:

This is a complex area. You should get independent, professional advice on it. This thread might be of interest but may not deal with all of the cross jurisdictional issues:

Company to hold investment property

Click to expand...

If this is a complex area why did you categorically tell the OP that "if you buy at home or abroad then you are no longer a FTB" when, according to the Independent article, there are ways around this (ie by buying abroad through a company)? Surely you shouldn't advise people in such a black and white way if you aren't actually expert on the issue??

Bushfire said:

If this is a complex area why did you categorically tell the OP that "if you buy at home or abroad then you are no longer a FTB" when, according to the Independent article, there are ways around this (ie by buying abroad through a company)? Surely you shouldn't advise people in such a black and white way if you aren't actually expert on the issue??

Click to expand...

To be fair, the revenue are explicit on this point - if you buy abroad you are no longer a FTB. The OP never asked about possible workarounds.

Anyway, unless you can sell the company to another investor, realising your gain may incur more tax (e.g. income tax) than you would save by retaining your FTB status.

Hi Munster & Santoro,

Clubman is correct if you buy direct you will lose your FTB status. True buying through a company can help you get around this but it will significantly increase your costs, time and make your deal more complicated. Plus you may have to set a company in the country you are buying and, therefore, restricting your choice to that country, but I would check this out as I don't have required legal knowledge to advise you on this in detail. However, as hinted at above the company will be subject to different tax that you would as an individual.

Of more importance here is the issue of you risking what funds you do have in an overseas property market. I know it has been more common for first time buyers to do this recently, however, I would never advise anyone to buy abroad as a quick fix solution to getting on the propety ladder in Ireland. If you do continue make sure you do your homework and stick to a market that is low-risk and not an emerging one that is over-hyped. Start by accessing the countries, then the region or city that you wish to invest in first, before you go anywhere near any sellers.

Good luck,

Simon.