Moving money to Ireland after sale of property.

Hi. My parents bought a property in Spain approx 20 years ago. They have bought and sold twice, paying tax on the sale each time. Now they are selling the property (and paying approx. 3% tax) and will have approx. €500k.

They are looking at moving this lump back to Ireland. Would there be any issue with doing this? I’m hoping that having paid tax on the sale of the property in Spain that it would be ok to move it back here?

Thanks.

CormacH said:

€500k.

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At this level of activity, they should sit down with a specialist in tax and pay them €1,000 or so to make sure that they do it as efficiently as possible.

Thanks Brendan. Is there a list of recommended specialists on AAM?

Maybe a separate best buys section that I might have missed

CormacH said:

Is there a list of recommended specialists on AAM?

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No.

What do you mean by they paid tax each time?

Was that tax on the gains or a stamp duty tax on the sale?

Did they file a CGT return in Ireland?
If they were still resident in Ireland, then they may have been liable to CGT in Ireland

They paid tax each time on the sale of the property and purchase of the new property in Spain.

It’s the CGT that I need to find out about. I did not realise that they would have to pay double tax.

CormacH said:

They paid tax each time on the sale of the property and purchase of the new property in Spain.

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I think that @jpd's point is that they could perhaps have outstanding CGT liabilities on previous transactions as well as this one?

As @Brendan Burgess said earlier they almost certainly need professional advice on this.

In general an Irish resident is liable to CGT on their worldwide gains. It's irrelevant whether they bring the proceeds of the transaction back to Ireland or not.

If the OP's parents realised a gain each time they sold and rebought, then there will have been a potential liablity to Irish CGT.

Under the Ireland/Spain Double Taxation Agreement, if they paid Spanish CGT in relation to the transaction, that is allowable as a full credit against any Irish CGT liablity. So it's possible, in fact, that their Irish liablity, allowing for the credit, was nil.

But it's also possible that it wasn't. In which case there is now a liablity for unpaid CGT, plus interest and penalties, in relation to one or both of the previous transactions.

Exactly the same considerations apply to the current transation except, presumably, there's as yet no danger of interest and penalties.

I agree with Brendan and Clubman; time to get a professional adviser. The advice they offer may be welcome, or it may be unwelcome, but either way it's advice the OP's parents need to hear. Plus, a professional adviser will be best positioned to assist in minimising whatever liablity there is.