The latest Budget announced that TRS or Tax Relief at Source on mortgages would end after 7 years. This change was due to take effect from May 1st 2009. It looks like the department of finance and Brian Lenihan didn’t work out with the Revenue department how this was going to work. Today it was gradually forced out of the government that some people will lose their TRS temporarily – even if they have had it for less than 7 years. Whatever “system” is used to track the tax relief – it seems it cannot cope with working out who has had it for 7 years or more!
Apparently for first time buyers who haven’t moved house or mortgage provider it will be OK – but for people on their second or third mortgages it is likely that at least some of them will have their relief stopped until Revenue can establish if they are entitled to continued relief.
In a statement , the Revenue Commissioners said that the relief at source would be reactivated in June where an entitlement is established, and that any arrears will be credited to their accounts automatically.
According to the Revenue Commissioners, the move means mortgage interest relief will be suspended for 321,000 of the 562,000 people currently receiving the entitlement. Of those, Revenue says 57,000 people will definitely no longer be entitled to it. (But there may well be more)
In this so called “knowledge economy” known as Ireland it looks like the knowledge is lacking a bit.