‘First-time buyers get €25k tax deal if they buy this year’

FIRST-time buyers have been told they could receive a €25,000 windfall by purchasing a home this year.

Mortgage interest for first-time buyers is being all but abolished from 2012, according to the director of the Irish Mortgage Corporation Frank Conway. He said however first-time buyers who buy this year will still manage to qualify for the maximum amount.

Mortgage interest relief is a special scheme in which mortgage holders receive back a proportion of the interest they pay on their mortgages. The special tax deal is managed through what is known as Tax Relief at Source (TRS), first-time buyers are the biggest beneficiaries where up to €416.67 is repaid directly back to mortgage holders bank accounts each month.