Is it worth moving home to Ireland?

How it is worked out

1. The year compared is 2027, when most people would move. Ireland: Budget 2027 income tax bands and credits, USC and PRSI, with the Rent Tax Credit for renters. A couple is taxed jointly (married or civil partners); a single parent gets the single person child carer credit.
2. Where you live now: UK income tax and NI for 2026-27 (frozen to 2030-31), Scotland’s six bands; Australia’s 2027-28 rates (14% from 1 July 2027), LITO and the 2% Medicare levy; Canada’s federal and provincial tax with CPP (5.75% in 2027), CPP2 and EI; US federal tax (2026 brackets, standard deduction), Social Security and Medicare tax, and state tax for 18 states as a single filer.
3. Housing: the Irish default is the RTB’s average rent for new tenancies in your county or city (Q1 2026). Real listings are often higher.
4. Childcare in Ireland: the fee for a full-time place, capped at the Core Funding maximum, less the National Childcare Scheme universal subsidy for 45 hours a week. Families on lower incomes can get more through the income-assessed subsidy.
5. Euro: everything “now” is converted at the exchange rate you enter. A month is a twelfth of a year (52 weeks).

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth moving home to Ireland?
It depends on what you would have left each month after tax, rent and childcare, not on the salary. Example (our assumptions): a single person on A$120,000 in Sydney paying A$3,000 a month in rent keeps about €2,843 a month in euro. On a €70,000 offer in Dublin City, paying the average new Dublin City rent of €2,301 (RTB, Q1 2026), they would keep about €2,033, so €810 a month less. They would need about €90,500 in Ireland to be no worse off. Childcare, family payments and a partner’s pay can change the answer completely, so enter your own.

How am I taxed in my first year back in Ireland?
Split-year treatment means Irish tax on your job starts from the day you arrive: employment income earned abroad earlier in the year is ignored, and you generally get full-year tax credits (Revenue). It covers employment income only. Foreign rent, interest, dividends and pensions are taxed under the normal rules, and most returning Irish keep an Irish domicile, so the remittance basis does not apply to them.

How do I avoid emergency tax when I start work in Ireland?
Register your new job on Revenue’s myAccount (PAYE Services, “Add Job or Pension Details”) before your first payday, so your employer gets your tax credits. Without them you pay emergency tax: a single person’s band for four weeks, then 40% on all pay from week 5, and USC at 8% (Revenue, 2026). Overpaid tax is refunded through payroll once your credits arrive. If you have an old PPSN, use it.

Can I get Help to Buy when I move home?
Only if neither of you has ever bought or built a home anywhere, including abroad. Help to Buy is now up to €35,000 (applications from 7 October 2026 to 31 December 2029), but it is capped at the Irish income tax and DIRT you paid in the 4 years before you apply, so it is small until you have Irish tax history (Revenue). Mortgage limits are 4 times income for first-time buyers and 3.5 times for others, with a 10% deposit (Central Bank).

Can I move my pension to Ireland?
Australian super cannot be moved into an Irish pension. You can only cash it out early through DASP if you were never an Australian citizen or permanent resident (taxed at 35%, or 65% if you ever held a working holiday visa); otherwise it stays until you are 60 (ATO). A UK pension can move only to an Irish scheme on HMRC’s recognised list, and since 30 October 2024 the 25% overseas transfer charge applies unless you already live in Ireland when you transfer (HMRC). A US 401(k) usually stays in the US; withdrawals are taxed in Ireland under the treaty.

Can I claim Child Benefit as soon as I move back?
Irish citizens are not exempt from the Habitual Residence Condition, but there is no minimum period: you can qualify from the day you return if Ireland is now the centre of your life, shown by things like an Irish job, a lease ended abroad or belongings shipped (Citizens Information). Child Benefit is €140 a month per child.

Related

• Sell before or after you move? The Irish tax on shares, ETFs or a home abroad, by sale date.
• Irish State Pension with years abroad: what your years away add to the Irish pension.
• Moving home to Ireland: your tax in the first year back: split-year relief, emergency tax, foreign income and pensions.
• Budget 2027 calculator: your Irish take-home in 2026 and 2027, line by line.
• Rent Tax Credit calculator · Help to Buy calculator · What can I claim? (Ireland)
• UK voluntary National Insurance from abroad: keep building your UK State Pension from Ireland.