The Help to Buy scheme, with examples

What the refund actually is

Help to Buy refunds Irish income tax and DIRT paid in the four tax years before the application. It does not refund USC or PRSI. It is aimed at a first-time buyer of a new home, or a self-build, that they will live in. The purchase value, or the approved valuation for a self-build, cannot be more than €500,000. The buyer needs a mortgage from a qualifying lender of at least 70% of that value, has to be tax compliant, and has to live in the home for five years. Those conditions are Revenue’s, on the who-can-claim page.

A first-time buyer here means someone who has not previously bought or built a home, alone or with someone else, in Ireland or abroad. Selling an older home does not reset that. The property has to be a qualifying new build. A contractor on a purchase has to be approved by Revenue. A self-build uses a solicitor who is registered as a Help to Buy approver. The refund on a purchase is paid to the qualifying contractor. The refund on a self-build is paid to an account with the mortgage lender. It is not paid to the buyer as spending money.

Which cap applies in October 2026

Revenue’s how-much page sets three caps. Applications from 1 January 2017 to 22 July 2020 are capped at €20,000. Where the contract was signed, or the first self-build drawdown was made, from 23 July 2020 to 6 October 2026, the enhanced cap is €30,000. From 7 October 2026 to 31 December 2029 the further enhanced cap is €35,000. A contract signed now falls in that third window. The amount paid is the lowest of the cap, 10% of the purchase value or approved valuation, and the income tax plus DIRT paid in the four years before the application. The cap is per property, however many buyers are on the contract.

A Revenue PDF summary for applicants still describes the enhanced relief as €30,000 through 31 December 2029. The HTML how-much page is the one that includes the 7 October 2026 step up to €35,000. This guide follows the HTML page. If the two still disagree when you apply, the figure Revenue’s own application screen offers is the one that will be paid.

Three prices, using the €35,000 cap

A new home at €450,000, with a contract signed on or after 7 October 2026, has a 10% figure of €45,000. The cap cuts that to €35,000. The refund cannot exceed income tax and DIRT paid in the four years before the application. If those four years produced €22,000 of income tax and DIRT, the refund is €22,000. If they produced €40,000, the refund is €35,000. The mortgage has to be at least 70% of €450,000, which is €315,000. A larger deposit that pushes the loan under 70% fails the test even when the price is inside €500,000.

A €200,000 self-build is limited by the 10% before the cap matters. Ten per cent of the approved valuation is €20,000. If income tax and DIRT in the four years were €28,000, the refund is €20,000, not €35,000 and not €28,000. The lender’s approved valuation is the number the 10% uses, and it still has to be €500,000 or under.

A €510,000 purchase is outside the scheme, whatever was paid in tax. There is no taper. €500,000 is the last price that can qualify, and at that price 10% is €50,000, so the €35,000 cap and the tax paid are what bind. Run the loan at 70% of €500,000, which is €350,000, before assuming the deposit you wanted still qualifies.

Stamp duty and the mortgage are different bills

Help to Buy is not a stamp duty relief. Residential stamp duty is still charged on the instrument. The rates used on this site are 1% up to €1 million, 2% on the next €500,000 and 6% above €1.5 million. A home inside the Help to Buy price cap is inside the 1% slice, so a €450,000 purchase is €4,500 of duty before any other relief. That duty is not subtracted from the Help to Buy refund in Revenue’s formula. Budget for both.

The stamp duty calculator does the duty. It does not know whether the home is new, whether you are a first-time buyer, or what you paid in income tax. The mortgage calculator turns the loan, the rate and the term into a repayment. Put in the loan after the Help to Buy payment has reduced what you need to borrow. A €315,000 loan and a €350,000 loan are different payments, and the calculator will not assume the refund for you.

What the scheme does not look at

USC and PRSI paid in those four years are not refunded. A year with a lot of USC and little income tax produces a smaller Help to Buy figure than a year of the same gross pay taxed more heavily to income tax. The take-home pay calculator shows the current year’s three charges. It is not a total of the last four years’ income tax and DIRT, and it does not apply Help to Buy.

Shared equity under the First Home Scheme is not counted in the 70% loan-to-value test. An affordable-purchase contribution from a local authority can be counted for contracts on or after 11 October 2023. Those are Revenue’s distinctions on the qualifying-property page. The illustrations in this guide assume an ordinary qualifying mortgage and no shared-equity slice. Tax already refunded under another claim is not paid again. The application asks for the four years, and the screen is the record of what Revenue will count.

How it's calculated

The refund is the lowest of three numbers: the cap for the date of the contract or the first self-build drawdown, 10% of the purchase value or the lender’s approved valuation, and the Irish income tax plus DIRT paid in the four years before the application. USC and PRSI are not refunded. The cap from 7 October 2026 to 31 December 2029 is €35,000. The previous enhanced cap, for a contract or first drawdown from 23 July 2020 to 6 October 2026, is €30,000.

The other first-time buyer supports sit beside this one in the comparison of Help to Buy, the First Home Scheme and local authority loans.

Tools for this

• Work out the monthly repayment on the mortgage you still have to borrow
• Estimate residential stamp duty on the purchase price
• See 2026 take-home pay, which is not the Help to Buy refund