Child Benefit UK or Ireland

Hi,

Recently moved from UK to Dublin and have 3 kids under the age of 5.
We are a single income family which comes from my job in the UK. I will continue to work in the UK for the forseeable future.

As a UK taxpayer with a family living in Ireland, where should I be claiming Child Benefit? My wife continues to receive UK benefit at present but the Irish rate is higher

I'm told that Irish welfare would pay the difference between the two but this can take up to 12 months to arrange...

Obviously we could claim both but we dont want to get locked up!

Any guidance here?

To receive child benefit in the Irish state,

a) The child must be ordinarily resident in the Irish State
b) The applicant (usually mother) must be habitually resident in the Irish State (which can be hard to establish if you retain financial links to other countries, even to the North)

However, if the applicant/mother is an EU national (ie, other than Irish) then she will be deemed to satisfy the habitual residence condition.

In other words, you should be eligible for child benefit from the Irish state. The usual rule is that you apply for the benefit in the country where you work. If your wife is working in the UK, she should apply to the UK authorities to let them know that the child is now in Ireland, and they will contact the Irish authorities to ensure that you get the difference topped up. If your wife is not working, then she should apply directly to the Irish authorities here, and obviously let the UK authorities know that both she and the child are no longer living in the UK.

If you or your wife are working in UK and are living in Ireland you will also need to inform the Irish Revenue as you are likely to be considered resident in Ireland for tax purposes and will have a tax liability here, although they will deduct any tax that you pay to the UK authorities from your tax liability.

Thanks for this.

I understood the tax treaty between the UK and Ireland covers the fact that I am technically working abroad.

As my wife is not working but permanently living in Ireland with the kids 100% of the time in our own house, doesnt that satisfy the requirements?

borderpeople .info says:

"EU Citizens are usually required to claim benefits in the country where they last worked and paid Social Insurance Contributions. If a person and his/her spouse or partner are covered by more than one country’s social security system, only one country’s equivalent of Child Benefit will be paid in full. If the country responsible for paying the full benefit pays less that the other country, the other country may pay the client the difference. For example this may mean that a frontier worker living in the South and working in Northern Ireland will receive Child Benefit from the North and possibly a top-up from the South.

Bundling - When applying for a top up of Child Benefit from the South, NI Child tax credits are bundled together with Child benefit received in the North and the total amount is taken away from the Irish Child Benefit rate. The shortfall, if any, is then paid out as a top-up. Currently this process can take approximately twelve months."

Therefore:

UK benefit currently = £188 pm

Irish benefit would be = Eur 447 pm

Difference = £188*1.15 = Eur216.2 - Eur447 = Eur231 per month

If it can take 12 months, would the claim be backdated? (ie we recieve 2,700 in backdated benefit)

The Child Benefit guidelines on HRC state that EU/EEA citizens working in Ireland satisfy the habitual residence condition - this is slightly different than the previous post, and could have a bearing in this situation.

Yes, if a claim takes 12 months to process, any arrears due will be paid from the date of application.

www.ebuybus.com

:d

Hi brodrjam,

We have just moved home to Ireland after many years in the UK. Just like your situation above, we are a single income family and my husband still works in the UK until such a time as we find work here in Ireland. We have 3 children, the oldest of which is 4 years old. Can you tell me how you got on with your claim for child benefit here in Ireland? We did not receive any child benefit in the UK as we were not entitled to it. Do you know what that would mean for us here in Ireland?

Any info appreciated.

Cheers