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Retiring to Ireland US Taxes/Irish Taxes Ect.

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richard0412
  7/20/2017 00:51 EST

Retiring to Ireland US Taxes/Irish Taxes Ect.

We would like to live in Ireland permanently. My wife and I are both retired United States residents. However, I have both U.S. and Irish Citizenship.

I have two questions. The first concerns my wife. Being married to an Irish citizen does that provide her any rights as far as being able to stay in Ireland or road to citizenship? I read somewhere that she can apply for citizenship after five years of residing in Ireland.

My second question concerns income and taxes. We do not plan to work in Ireland. Our income is a government pension for me, social security for both of us and some monthly payments from annuities. Do we pay taxes on this income to America, Ireland or both?

Any help is appreciated.
Richard

Joshuak
  7/23/2017 17:30 EST

Question 1: When you, as a Irish citizen establish a residence in Ireland, you will be able to go with your wife with proof of marriage (Certified Copy) and proof of residence to a Garda Office in a Town close to said residence and she will be given (no charge) a 1 year resident card which can be renewed every year for 3 years when she may get citizenship. My wife did get that except we did not stay for 3 years, and had no intentions to stay.
Second question: I am not sure but if you stay permanently you probably will have to pay Irish taxes. There is a treaty between US and Ireland that you must pay taxes in only one country. But Irish taxes are higher than US so in order to get an answer you would need to see a tax accountant and process a simulated return based on what you have to see which one is best for you. My advice to you is to NOT buy a property until you check out everything and actually live there for at least one year. We went to Ireland for about 1 1/2 years because we could, and explored Ireland and other EU countries while we were there. But we returned every 6 months for our US medical (Medicare Advantage plan) which provided some coverage outside the US. If we had to buy travel insurance, it would have been very expensive. BTW; You do not have a income test since you are already a Irish citizen. Immigrants with no prior Irish connection must have income of 50,000 Euro each to remain plus other funds. You probably would not need that much income to live there, but be aware, it is more expensive than living in most areas of US. The Euro just jumped up to about $1.17 as it was $1.07 just a month or so ago. It may go as far as $1.50 in the next year or so which makes the cost even higher. Ireland is a great place to visit, but living there full time has some challenges. If you wish more advice or questions, contact me via private message on this website. I have been in / out of Ireland for years and still have family living there on a farm. My Mother was born in Cork city.

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