Transfering savings from abroad

Hi,
A friend of mine has been working in Austrailia for a number of years and would like to transfer their savings back to Ireland, she is not planning on moving back just yet though. She is worried that if she just lodges the money into her old bank account that the Revenue will look for DIRT taxes on it. She doesnt want to end up paying tax on it twice. Any advice on this?

Thanks
Hacker

hacker said:

She is worried that if she just lodges the money into her old bank account that the Revenue will look for DIRT taxes on it.

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I don't think that this is true unless she is still tax resident in Ireland in spite of living abroad.

As far as I know, banks automatically deduct DIRT and she would have to sign a form to confirm her non-resident status to avoid this.

I assumed that the original query related to the possibility of Revenue looking for backdated DIRT on the money rather than looking for DIRT on interest earned subsequent to the transfer back to Ireland. On re-reading the query it's not clear what the question is. Perhaps the original poster can clarify?

Yes Clubman, sorry if the origional post is not clear. My friend has a large sum in her savings, over 50 grand and has it sitting in a savers account in Austrailia. She will move back to Ireland maybe 2008 and would like to invest her money in the mean time She would not like to have the revenue look for back dated DIRT etc as the money was earned in Oz and taxes paid there. Maybe there are no issues but I suppose she doesnt want any nasty surprises. Should she contact her old bank here for advise do you think?

Thanks
Hacker

DIRT itself would not be an issue on past income as it operates like the full name (Deposit Interest Retention Tax) might suggest as a retention tax and is therefore deducted when interest is paid.

Your friend may or may not have an Irish Income Tax liability depending on her residence status during the time in question when the income was earned.