2017-21 help to buy scheme - megathread. All help to buy discussion here please

Collyb101

NOTE FOR ALL.
I got good advice today on the boards. I was sitting awaiting verification on my application when I should have been putting pressure on my builders.
Once your application says "awaiting verification" your builder needs your details. They should log onto THEIR revenue and verify your application.
Once i knew to chase this it all happened very quickly today and both revenue and builder told me I should have funds in 5 working days.
My main point. If i was not told today on boards to contact builder I would have been sitting waiting. My builders wouldnt be too on the ball.

Collyb

sibersha

Collyb101 wrote: »

Sibersha / Morrga,

Thank you for this information. This is exactly what I needed to know.
I knew the Revenue would not be ringing around. Doesn't sound like something they would do LOL.

Cheers again. And Tobdom, cheers too.

Collyb

Glad to have helped. I'm currently waiting on my contractor to appear on the qualifying list of contractors, then I'm going to hound them

Blingy

Not sure if I should post this here but we applied for the htb scheme and got approved for the full 20k. We gave the application code and access code to the bank for the mortgage as proof of the 20k. However they sent out the letter of offer with a pre condition that we must provide a letter from revenue stating we are approved for the full rebate of 20k! Anyone else have this issue? We gave them a print screen of the revenue pages stating we are approved. We are just about to sign contracts. Can't imagine revenue will issue us a letter. Thanks.

Wopp

Blingy wrote: »

Not sure if I should post this here but we applied for the htb scheme and got approved for the full 20k. We gave the application code and access code to the bank for the mortgage as proof of the 20k. However they sent out the letter of offer with a pre condition that we must provide a letter from revenue stating we are approved for the full rebate of 20k! Anyone else have this issue? We gave them a print screen of the revenue pages stating we are approved. We are just about to sign contracts. Can't imagine revenue will issue us a letter. Thanks.

The message you get sent to myenquiries? Would that be sufficient?

Blingy

Wopp wrote: »

The message you get sent to myenquiries? Would that be sufficient?

You would think that should be sufficient but I've given them that already!

morrga

Blingy wrote: »

Not sure if I should post this here but we applied for the htb scheme and got approved for the full 20k. We gave the application code and access code to the bank for the mortgage as proof of the 20k. However they sent out the letter of offer with a pre condition that we must provide a letter from revenue stating we are approved for the full rebate of 20k! Anyone else have this issue? We gave them a print screen of the revenue pages stating we are approved. We are just about to sign contracts. Can't imagine revenue will issue us a letter. Thanks.

We just got a signed gift letter from our parents for the 20k. It was just easier and less hassle for everyone.

youcancallmeal

Blingy wrote: »

Not sure if I should post this here but we applied for the htb scheme and got approved for the full 20k. We gave the application code and access code to the bank for the mortgage as proof of the 20k. However they sent out the letter of offer with a pre condition that we must provide a letter from revenue stating we are approved for the full rebate of 20k! Anyone else have this issue? We gave them a print screen of the revenue pages stating we are approved. We are just about to sign contracts. Can't imagine revenue will issue us a letter. Thanks.

Bank is wrong and clearly havent read the help to buy documentation guides. Basically tell them to go to this link and put in your application and access code. That's all the proof revenue will provide and all the proof you should need. Also direct them to this document http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/htb/htb-summary-lending.pdf

We had something similar with the builders solicitor wanting a letter from Revenue confirming and guaranteeing that we were entitled to 20k. We just gave them our application and access codes and directed them to relevant guides for builders/solicitors. More or less telling them to go and RTFM!

youcancallmeal

Collyb101 wrote: »

NOTE FOR ALL.
I got good advice today on the boards. I was sitting awaiting verification on my application when I should have been putting pressure on my builders.
Once your application says "awaiting verification" your builder needs your details. They should log onto THEIR revenue and verify your application.
Once i knew to chase this it all happened very quickly today and both revenue and builder told me I should have funds in 5 working days.
My main point. If i was not told today on boards to contact builder I would have been sitting waiting. My builders wouldnt be too on the ball.

Collyb

Yep I had same thing as well, had to talk the builder through the whole process which is detailed in this document http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/htb/htb-summary-contractors.pdf. I recommend for everyone to make sure their builder is aware of this document as it outlines the process pretty clearly.

Collyb101

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Bank is wrong and clearly havent read the help to buy documentation guides. Basically tell them to go to this link and put in your application and access code. That's all the proof revenue will provide and all the proof you should need. Also direct them to this document http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/htb/htb-summary-lending.pdf

We had something similar with the builders solicitor wanting a letter from Revenue confirming and guaranteeing that we were entitled to 20k. We just gave them our application and access codes and directed them to relevant guides for builders/solicitors. More or less telling them to go and RTFM!

You'll receive a confirmation email too. You could provide this to them AFTER they go through the process for you.

Collyb

Blingy

Collyb101 wrote: »

You'll receive a confirmation email too. You could provide this to them AFTER they go through the process for you.

Collyb

Thank you. You would swear I am the first person to apply with money coming from the htb scheme. You would think they know what to do in the bank and have a process!!

Collyb101

Blingy wrote: »

Thank you. You would swear I am the first person to apply with money coming from the htb scheme. You would think they know what to do in the bank and have a process!!

From listening to others, I think the problem is the Revenue have changed their process a dozen times or the same rules are not being applied around the board.

youcancallmeal

Went sale agreed on 9th Jan. It has been a long and often stressful 2 months but finally managed to complete our claim today(Builder received the payment).
There was 2 cancelled applications, at least 15 calls to revenue, numerous weeks wasted by miscommunication, solicitors who refused to read and follow documented processes, threats of losing deposit and builder who delayed registering with scheme for weeks leaving us in limbo.
We were supposedly one the first non-retrospective applicants which is what caused a lot of the delay. Just glad its finally all over and we can get on with closing the sale. If anyone has any questions let me know, I could probably get a job in the Revenue call center now!

Energy1

Hey,

I am about to purchase a house at the end of this month. Is it possible to claim the tax back from January 17 till March 17? Thanks.

Alter_Ego

Energy1 wrote: »

Hey,

I am about to purchase a house at the end of this month. Is it possible to claim the tax back from January 17 till March 17? Thanks.

Don't think so. You can't request Form 12 for 2017 as the year has finished ended yet.

Energy1

Alter_Ego wrote: »

Don't think so. You can't request Form 12 for 2017 as the year has finished ended yet.

Thats what I taught, I haven't worked for the last 4 years therfore I can't claim the 5% back

pilly

Energy1 wrote: »

Thats what I taught, I haven't worked for the last 4 years therfore I can't claim the 5% back

And you're about to purchase a house?

Energy1

pilly wrote: »

And you're about to purchase a house?

Yeah I bought a house, just havent paid tax for the last four consecutive years as I went back to college. Have just been back working the last two.

pilly

Energy1 wrote: »

Yeah I bought a house, just havent paid tax for the last four consecutive years as I went back to college. Have just been back working the last two.

So you'll be able to claim the last two years tax back then. Unfortunately nothing you can do about this years.

Energy1

pilly wrote: »

So you'll be able to claim the last two years tax back then. Unfortunately nothing you can do about this years.

Just checking incase, I actually agreeded to purchase last year so I was lucky it wasn't ready till March otherwise I wouldn't have got tax from 2016. Thanks for that

pilly

Energy1 wrote: »

Just checking incase, I actually agreed to purchase last year so I was lucky it wasn't ready till March otherwise I wouldn't have got tax from 2016. Thanks for that

Yeah, I wonder will it make house sales seasonal now as people wait for tax years to end. It's an interesting point.

jenb550

Apologies for yet another question that has already been answered but if I have to call Revenue again I might go absolutely mad!

We are retrospective applicants (contract signed in Dec 2016, mortgage not yet drawn down but approved and ready to go as soon as the snag list is sorted) I have our application code and our access code. We have now been sent a claim code. Do we contact our builder and give him these codes in order for him to verify or do we leave well enough alone at this stage and wait for revenue to sort? I've been told that our builder has nothing to do with our process as we're retrospective but it clearly says on our claim reference number correspondence that we need our builder to verify! "Your claim reference number is C*******9. Your solicitor or building contractor will require the claim reference number and the application code (sent to you at application stage of the HTB process) to verify the property prior to any refund issuing."

HALP!!!!!

crogerso

youcancallmeal wrote:

Went sale agreed on 9th Jan. It has been a long and often stressful 2 months but finally managed to complete our claim today(Builder received the payment). There was 2 cancelled applications, at least 15 calls to revenue, numerous weeks wasted by miscommunication, solicitors who refused to read and follow documented processes, threats of losing deposit and builder who delayed registering with scheme for weeks leaving us in limbo. We were supposedly one the first non-retrospective applicants which is what caused a lot of the delay. Just glad its finally all over and we can get on with closing the sale. If anyone has any questions let me know, I could probably get a job in the Revenue call center now!

Hi, just wondering if your builder accepted your HTB rebate as part of the deposit. Ours is saying that they won't accept it as deposit but will take it off the purchase price at closing...

youcancallmeal

crogerso wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if your builder accepted your HTB rebate as part of the deposit. Ours is saying that they won't accept it as deposit but will take it off the purchase price at closing...

Yes they didn't want to take it as part of deposit and wanted to do something similar to what you suggested. We had to fight really hard for them to accept the correct process as outlined by revenue. I think really they were just quite worried about signing contracts and not having the full deposit in their hand. We refused to do it any other way than what was outlined by Revenue in case we couldn't claim after paying up a full deposit and then be out of pocket 20k.

We came up with a sort of compromise that lessened the risk to the builder and kept them happy. Signed contracts are the crucial part of the claim stage so what we did was sign them and pay the deposit minus the 20k HTB money. The builder then signed them and sent us a scanned copy which we uploaded to Revenue to initiate the claim. The idea was that the contract wasn't binding until the builder sent us back the original paper copy of the contract and they wouldn't do that until they received their payment from Revenue. We uploaded the contracts and the builder confirmed the claim and received the money in about 4/5 days. They did put extra stuff in the contract that we had 3 days from receiving the scanned signed contract to initiate the claim with Revenue and 10 days within which they had to have their payment from Revenue or contract was void. Deadlines were infuriating as we had no control over the process once we initiated the claim!?

crogerso

youcancallmeal wrote:

We came up with a sort of compromise that lessened the risk to the builder and kept them happy. Signed contracts are the crucial part of the claim stage so what we did was sign them and pay the deposit minus the 20k HTB money. The builder then signed them and sent us a scanned copy which we uploaded to Revenue to initiate the claim. The idea was that the contract wasn't binding until the builder sent us back the original paper copy of the contract and they wouldn't do that until they received their payment from Revenue. We uploaded the contracts and the builder confirmed the claim and received the money in about 4/5 days. They did put extra stuff in the contract that we had 3 days from receiving the scanned signed contract to initiate the claim with Revenue and 10 days within which they had to have their payment from Revenue or contract was void. Deadlines were infuriating as we had no control over the process once we initiated the claim!?

youcancallmeal wrote:

Yes they didn't want to take it as part of deposit and wanted to do something similar to what you suggested. We had to fight really hard for them to accept the correct process as outlined by revenue. I think really they were just quite worried about signing contracts and not having the full deposit in their hand. We refused to do it any other way than what was outlined by Revenue in case we couldn't claim after paying up a full deposit and then be out of pocket 20k.

Thanks, its hard to find non retrospective buyers experiences, not many of us yet it seems. Hopefully we will be able to do the same as you, going to forward your experience to our solicitor and see what they say! Thanks again!

Alter_Ego

pilly wrote: »

Yeah, I wonder will it make house sales seasonal now as people wait for tax years to end. It's an interesting point.

Don't thinks so. It's FTB on new houses only so small percentage of the market. Most FTB's applying as a couples would only rebate on tax paid within 2-3 years to obtain the full 20,000 euro rebate as they would have paid more than 20,000 tax between them within 2-3 years.

tangled up in blue

Hi

I contacted revenue by phone today as they seem to file all "My Enquiries" communications directly into their spam box. Unfortunately the guy manning the phone-line seems to be a transition-year on work-experience. Needless to say, every question was dismissed with a "It's all in process, just takes time".

My girlfriend and I both separately confirmed our membership of a joint application about 2 weeks ago and we have an application code. However we are both get a message saying "awaiting membership confirmation" from the other. Has anyone else been through this?

Secondly, the application has been "under review" since we applied. We have the P21 from all relevant years through the online service. Is this the norm? Do we just sit back and wait now? Revenue phone service seems not to know anything about the scheme at all and is only concerned with getting me off the phone ASAP.

Any help would be appreciated.

Energy1

tangled up in blue wrote: »

Hi

I contacted revenue by phone today as they seem to file all "My Enquiries" communications directly into their spam box. Unfortunately the guy manning the phone-line seems to be a transition-year on work-experience. Needless to say, every question was dismissed with a "It's all in process, just takes time".

My girlfriend and I both separately confirmed our membership of a joint application about 2 weeks ago and we have an application code. However we are both get a message saying "awaiting membership confirmation" from the other. Has anyone else been through this?

Secondly, the application has been "under review" since we applied. We have the P21 from all relevant years through the online service. Is this the norm? Do we just sit back and wait now? Revenue phone service seems not to know anything about the scheme at all and is only concerned with getting me off the phone ASAP.

Any help would be appreciated.

My application is under review and below that it states my girlfriend is awaiting membership to. Dunno what that means either

tobdom

tangled up in blue wrote: »

My girlfriend and I both separately confirmed our membership of a joint application about 2 weeks ago and we have an application code. However we are both get a message saying "awaiting membership confirmation" from the other. Has anyone else been through this?

I think this is 'normal' and it just stays like this, so I wouldn't worry about that bit too much.

In terms of wait time, I can't say how long it should take, perhaps others can share their experience. We had to cancel & resubmit due to owning them some PAYE..... Currently have application code and 'under review' for about a week or so now since we resubmitted.

Grassey

Energy1 wrote: »

My application is under review and below that it states my girlfriend is awaiting membership to. Dunno what that means either

Call Revenue, as I mentioned earlier mine was stuck like this and was only resolved by a call. Everything looked ok on their end but needed to do something to move me out of the awaiting member confirmation.

morrga

tangled up in blue wrote: »

Hi

I contacted revenue by phone today as they seem to file all "My Enquiries" communications directly into their spam box. Unfortunately the guy manning the phone-line seems to be a transition-year on work-experience. Needless to say, every question was dismissed with a "It's all in process, just takes time".

My girlfriend and I both separately confirmed our membership of a joint application about 2 weeks ago and we have an application code. However we are both get a message saying "awaiting membership confirmation" from the other. Has anyone else been through this?

Secondly, the application has been "under review" since we applied. We have the P21 from all relevant years through the online service. Is this the norm? Do we just sit back and wait now? Revenue phone service seems not to know anything about the scheme at all and is only concerned with getting me off the phone ASAP.

Any help would be appreciated.

I have been paid the refund and can confirm I experienced all of the above. I found the SE office very helpful. I never rang the 1890 numbers. It took us 6 weeks from application start date to payment date. Patience and a bit of nudging every few days will see progress happen. Revenue manually pushed through a few things like joint membership and form 12's. Once that's done, when application/access codes come through get straight on to builder.

You will get there and I too was like you, frustrated and uncertain but fingers crossed it will work out.