Help to Buy scheme causes confusion over deadlines
Self-builders who want to avail of the Help to Buy scheme as of 2016 must apply by 31 March 2017
The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme, which helps ROI first time buyers put down a deposit towards purchasing or building their home through a tax rebate, is causing some confusion among self-builders who have drawn down the first tranche of their mortgage in the qualifying period last year (19/07/2016 to 31/12/2016).The HTB relief available depends on the amount of income tax and DIRT you have paid in the four years preceding your application.So if you claim for 2016, the four qualifying preceding years would be 2012 to 2015. The catch is that even if your self-build started in 2016, you need to claim by March 31, 2017 to have your project qualify as a 2016 project.“Where you purchased or self-built a property on or after 19 July 2016 and on or before 31 December 2016, you may elect to have your application deemed to have been made in 2016, provided you apply before 31 March 2017,” a Revenue spokesperson told SelfBuild.“This will allow you to select the four years which are of most benefit. Where an election is made to have an application deemed to have been made in 2016, the four years available for computation of the HTB refund of income tax and DIRT are 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.”“It is important to clarify that if you purchase or self-built a property on or after 19 July 2016 and on or before 31 December 2016, you may still make your HTB application after 31 March 2017. However, in these circumstances, there will be no option to elect to have your application deemed to have been made in 2016. The application will in fact have been made in 2017 and the four years available for computation of the HTB refund of income tax and DIRT are 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.”If you have drawn down the first tranche in the qualifying period of 2016 but only apply in 2018 or 2019, the application will also be deemed to have been made in the 2017 tax year (refund would apply to 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016).Statistics as of 24 March 2017 show that 12 per cent of HTB scheme applicants to date were self-builders.
