Jersey Bank Account

[Fairplay]

I'm from England but have been resident in Ireland for a number of years. I have a deposit account in Jersey and have been told in the past that I do not need to declare this to the Irish tax authorities because I am non-domiciled and because I do not remit anything from the account to Ireland. Recently someone else has sown seeds of doubt by saying that the non-remittance thing no longer applies and that I am obliged to report the account in my tax returns. Is this the case?

 

[ClubMan]

How are you not domiciled (for tax purposes) if you have been living here for a number of years? On what basis do you think that you are not liable for any Irish taxes?

 

[extopia]

Form 11 only asks for specific details of accounts opened during the tax year in question. Not sure about the other forms. However, you are obliged to declare interest received on all accounts you own.

 

[dam099]

How are you not domiciled (for tax purposes) if you have been living here for a number of years? On what basis do you think that you are not liable for any Irish taxes?

Domcile is a trickier area than say residence and ordinary residence where there are more clear cut time frames which can define them. Domicile is more fuzzy and could come down to where you intend to live long term so depending on what is meant by a number of years domcile might not be deemed to have been changed yet.

 

[Fairplay]

How are you not domiciled (for tax purposes) if you have been living here for a number of years? On what basis do you think that you are not liable for any Irish taxes?

I'm told that my domicile is English as that is where I was born and raised and will, most likely, retire to. I do pay Irish taxes on my income here and indeed on some free-lance work I do for a company in the UK. I'm just concerned that advice I was given in the past by a tax adviser may not now be correct in relation to the Jersey account in that he said it was foreign income not remitted to Ireland and as such not taxable in Ireland.

 

[ClubMan]

I'm told that my domicile is English as that is where I was born and raised and will, most likely, retire to.

I'm not sure that this is correct from an Irish perspective but I could be wrong.

I do pay Irish taxes on my income here

Then chances are that you should be declaring offshore accounts. You should read the following Revenue FAQ and consider getting professional advice from somebody with experience of the tax codes in both jurisdictions (Ireland and UK).

Travel & Residence Matters

I'm just concerned that advice I was given in the past by a tax adviser may not now be correct in relation to the Jersey account in that he said it was foreign income not remitted to Ireland and as such not taxable in Ireland.

In general this does not sound right to me but I'm no tax expert and bear in mind the AAM disclaimers:

Tax Queries - Warning!!!

 

[z109]

From memory, the advice I got when I moved from the UK was:
If I was going from another country to Ireland, I would have three years of 'being offshore'.
Coming from the UK was a bit different, and I was advised to get my tax in order after the first year.

I believe you should have been declaring any interest on the account to the Irish tax man.

Your nationality is irrelevant, as far as I know (but then I am Irish, so maybe that was part of the advice I got).

I am not a tax advisor, but this was the advice I was given when I moved to Ireland in 2000 from UK.

 

[Fairplay]

I'm not sure that this is correct from an Irish perspective but I could be wrong.
You should read the following Revenue FAQ and consider getting professional advice from somebody with experience of the tax codes in both jurisdictions (Ireland and UK).

Travel & Residence Matters

Thanks for the link ClubMan, the Appendix A on the Moving to Ireland leaflet seems to support what the tax adviser told me i.e. I am non-domicled and as such only liable to Irish tax on foreign sourced income to the extent that they are remittanced to Ireland.

 

[funcrusher]

I am quite confident on the basis of your description of your circumstances that you are non-domiciled and will remain so - even if you die in Ireland - unless make a positive effort to adopt irish domicile. The only doubt might be if your father was Irish-born, as you inherit father's domicile at birth and you may not have lost this. A good way of cementing matters is to make a will stating your domicile, declaring that the will is under the law of your domicile, and that you intend to die there. ( eg "I intend to return to Enland when I retire/my wife dies/ etc").

You can import capital from jersey tax-free, but not interest. You need two separate accounts,to make sure that your interest on the capital account is credited to a second account, which you leave untouched. Otherwise a withdrawal from from a mixed account is treated as taxable interest first, then capital once the interest element is exhausted.

You may also need to register your tax-free status with the Jersey bank, otherwise they will have to deduct EU witholding tax.