Should I have been getting First Time Buyer TRS?

[amg63]

I bought my house (first time buyer) in 2001 so I know that with the Budget changes I will no longer be eligible for TRS in 2009 as this would be my 9th year and not so happy but that's OK.

I was looking at my mortgage statements and noticed I've been getting €600 from TRS which is the max for a non first time buyer €3000@20%. Looking at the tables I reckon though I should have been getting more as the limit is €10,000@20% and my interest last year was about €6,000 so I reckon maybe I should have been getting €1,200.

Are there any extra rules with TRS. The only complications I can think of are:

1. I changed mortgage providers but am still a FTB - should this make a difference?

2. I got my mortgage in 2001 but as it was a second hand house didn't get the First Time Buyers Grant. Would that make any difference at all?

Thanks

 

[klondike]

Looking at the tables I reckon though I should have been getting more as the limit is €10,000@20% and my interest last year was about €6,000 so I reckon maybe I should have been getting €1,200.

As you bought your house in 2001 you would have been considered a FTB from 2001-2007 (20% up to a max of €10,000).
From Jan 2008 you became a Non FTB (20% up to a max of €3000).

Therefore, the amount you received last year, €600 is correct.

From Jan 2009, the rates changed and you would have dropped from 20% to 15%, but as you are no longer a FTB you will cease to get TRS from May 1st.

1. I changed mortgage providers but am still a FTB - should this make a difference?

2. I got my mortgage in 2001 but as it was a second hand house didn't get the First Time Buyers Grant. Would that make any difference at all?

1. The 7 year FTB status applied to you - not your property - it doesn't matter if you sold and bought numerous times over that 7years. Your FTB status expired 7 years after you first took out your mortgage.

Now under the new budget rules, if you moved house or remortgaged for home improvements - you would be entitled to another 7 years from the date of that new mortgage. But if you just switched lender (for better interest rates etc), you don't benefit from this new rule.

2. The First Time Buyers Grant had nothing to do with Mortgage Interest Relief (TRS)