The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive is a scheme for first-time property buyers. It will help you with the deposit you need to buy or build a new house or apartment. You must buy or build the property to live in as your home.
The incentive will give you a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) that you paid in Ireland over the previous four years.
To claim HTB, you must:
To qualify, you must not have previously bought or built a house or apartment, either on your own or jointly with any other person. If you are buying or building the new property with other people, they must also be first-time buyers. If you have inherited or been gifted a property it will not affect your eligibility.
If you are buying the property, you must have signed a contract to buy that property on or after 19 July 2016. If you are self-building, you must have drawn down the first part of the mortgage on or after that date.
The contractor you are purchasing your home from must be approved by Revenue. You can check the list of approved developers and contractors
to make sure that your developer or contractor is approved.
The amount that you can claim is the lesser of:
The maximum payment is €20,000 per property. This cap applies regardless of how many people enter into a contract to buy a house.
Universal Social Charge (USC) or Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) are not taken into account when calculating how much you can claim.
If you bought or built the property between 19 July 2016 and 31 December 2016, the refund will be paid directly to you.
If you buy a new build after 1 January 2017, the refund will be paid to the contractor.
If you self-build the property after 1 January 2017, the refund will be paid to a bank account you hold with your loan provider.