The Irish pension landscape is changing rapidly. 2021 saw a plethora of publications, primarily from the Pensions Authority setting out the framework under which pension schemes will have to operate. There is more to come between now and when Auto Enrolment (a pension investment Scheme making personal pensions mandatory for all employees) arrives in early 2024 as part of Government’s strategic plan to increase pension coverage in Ireland to help combat long term pension deficits as our population ages.
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In 2021 IORP II was transposed into Irish law, and this has been a game changer for those that want to invest and control what their pension scheme invests in, the popular asset being property. While the pension framework has become more complicated and requires sound professional advice to navigate through, it is still possible to invest in unregulated assets such as property or assets not readily available through off the shelf pension scheme. Indeed, it remains possible to borrow within a pension arrangement to invest in property. The key is to understand each pension arrangement, and which one is right for you?

If you rent out your property, or a room in your property to visitors for short-term lets there are certain tax implications, and there may also be other rules that you need to follow. Short-term lets are stays of less than 14 days at a time, for example, if you rent out your property on a booking website such as Airbnb.

If you are renting out a property, or a room in your property for short-term lets, you may have to apply to your local authority for planning permission to change the use of the property, so it can be used for tourism and short-term letting purposes.

Travel insurance can seem like a boring and unnecessary item on your pre-travel to do list – why spend money protecting yourself against a holiday disaster which may never happen? However, expensive holiday disasters, such as cancellation, medical emergencies or lost possessions, can strike at any time, whether you’re popping over to Europe for a long weekend or travelling the world for two years.

The main items covered by travel insurance are:

• Cancellation Cover
• Emergency Medical Expenses and Repatriation – NOTE There are many travel medical plans available that include Covid related medical expenses. But since not all do, it’s important to verify Covid coverage before buying a plan if it’s a priority for you.
• Personal Possessions, Travel Documents and Gadgets.
• Activity Cover - Some travel medical insurance policies won’t cover expenses that resulted from activities such as mountain climbing, skydiving or parasailing.

​The war in Ukraine has added greatly to inflationary pressures this year, with further very sharp increases in energy and other commodity prices. CPI rates reached 8.5% in the US and 8.1% in the Eurozone in May and hit double-digit levels in some economies. The Bank of England is forecasting that inflation in the UK will rise above 11% in the final quarter of this year. Growth, though, is clearly weakening, making central banks task more difficult as they will want to try and avoid pushing their economies into recession as they tighten policy.

Help to Buy (HTB) incentive helps all first time buyers buy a newly built house, apartment or self- build home. It only applies to properties that cost €500,000 or less. The incentive which has been extended by Revenue to 31 December 2022, gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous 4 years. An individual cannot claim relief on PRSI or USC. An individual can claim a tax refund based on the income tax they have already paid, to the lessor of:

• €30,000
• 10% of the purchase price of the property
• 10% of the completion value of a self build
•  The amount of Income Tax and DIRT you paid for the previous 4 years. 
• The refund is paid to a bank account you hold with your loan provider.