Help to Buy Scheme eligibility after returning to Ireland from overseas

My partner and I moved to Australia Nov 2023. We had been working full time in Ireland and paying income tax up to Nov 2023. While in Australia we plan to save for a mortgage deposit and return home to Ireland either Nov 2026 or Nov 2027. We will have paid no income tax in Ireland while working in Australia.

If we return home in 2027 and apply for a mortgage in 2028 we will not have paid any income tax in the previous four years. Would it be worthwhile to work at home for a year before applying for the mortgage to reach the €30,000 income tax to be eligible for the HTB scheme? Or are we even eligible if we haven’t been working in Ireland during these years?

Or if we return home in Nov 2026 and apply for a mortgage in 2027 could we use our 2023 tax returns for the HTB scheme?

Not currently, house prices are increasing more than 30k a year.

It’s for a new build on green field site

Have you spoken to a broker about how to apply for the eventual mortgage? You may need to be working for a while in any case.

Also have you done the calculation on the amount of tax you will actually be paying on your return, will either your combined tax (no PRSI, no USC) or the 10% of valuation of the house reach the full 30k? Check your previous payslips or online calculators to estimate. For some people they are adding a couple of years of tax paid to reach the 30k, you might only have 1. This might help you to decide.

Is there any benefit in getting the work started while you are away, eg planning permission, groundworks, build etc? Having a home you can move into more quickly on your return meaning less rent paid might be a better saving than trying to qualify for incentives. But this all depends on how it will be financed as well.