Q:What is this?
A: It is version 1 of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Ireland discussion board.
Q: So what is it for?
A: If you are proto-Fool, or even a fully fledged Fool with gold stars, you
may find that your question has been asked before. So to save you time we
thought it would be a good idea make things easy and package the answers to
some of the questions that come up regularly.
Q: How do I know whether this FAQ is up to date?
A: If you got here via the FAQ link at the top of the message view screen then this is as up to date as it gets. However do check for replies. If you just happened across this message while working through every message on the board then it may have been superseded.
Q: What if I know better, or have another question which should be in here?
A: Post a reply here and it will be included in the next version. Thank You.
Q: What are the best sites for Irish Financial Issues
BULLETIN BOARDS:
Askaboutmoney www.askaboutmoney.com deals with Irish Finance. It covers such areas as mortgages, taxation, savings and investment and general stockmarket issues. However, it does not discuss individual shares. It's a community site which accepts no advertising and there are a number of very good people actively contributing their expertise.
The Motley Fool Ireland Board ( you are here !) discusses general Irish issues. See the end of this document for a complete list of Irish shares with their own discussion boards.
Irish Sharetalk www.irisharetalk.com deals mainly with shares and hasn't much on general finance issues. Every day it publishes articles from the business pages relating to Irish issues
Sharewatch www.sharewatch.com is similar but not as good - bizarrely it's more popular
.
TAX AND SOCIAL WELFARE
The Revenue Commissioners www.revenue.ie is an excellent site
Finfacts http://www.finfacts.com/taxfacts.htm have all the basic tax rates
The Department of Social Welfare www.welfare.ie
IRISH BUSINESS PAPERS
The Irish Times www.irish-times.ie
The Irish Independent/Sunday Independent www.independent.ie
Irish Business
Sunday Business Post www.sbpost.ie
Business and Finance
The Sunday Tribune is probably the best business paper but doesn't have an online presence !
FINFACTS
Finfacts www.finfacts.ie is the most comprehensive listing of Irish sites, but all the best ones are shown above.
INDEX TRACKING
Q: What tracker funds are available in Ireland ?
A: Two Irish companies do tracker funds: Irish Life Scope Funds and Quinn Life. See: http://212.67.199.31/askabout/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000015.html for a detailed comparison of these.
Ulster Bank markets a Scottish Provident Iseq tracker but it only tracks the capital value of the ISEQ. In other words it keeps the dividends for themselves !!!!! This is the equivalent of an annual charge of about 3%.
Q: What is the difference between a tracker fund and a tracker bond ?
A: Tracker Bonds are dreadful products which are very popular because of the sales push behind them. They are for a fixed period and offer some guarantee but a limited participation in the growth of the stockmarket which they track. Avoid them.
Tracker Funds actually buy the shares in the index they track - you are exposed to the volatility and the risk of the stockmarket. If the index falls over the period of your investment, the value of your investment will fall. However, you will gain almost the full value of any increase in the index.
Q: Can I buy an overseas tracker ?
A: Yes, but you will be taxed at 40% on any gain or income. Irish trackers pay tax at 24% within the fund. The proceeds in your hands are tax free.
Q: Is there a a Beat the ISEQ scheme, similar to Beat the Footsie ?
A: No - The Beat the FTSE depends on having a large population of high yielding blue-chip companies to select the Top 5 from. We hardly have 5 blue chip companies in Ireland.
TAX
Q: How do I calculate the CGT on my sale of Irish shares ?
A: If you make a gain on the sale of Irish shares you pay capital gains tax at 20% of the gain. The cost is indexed up to allow for inflation. The first £1000 per person is exempt every year.
Q: Do I have to pay Income Tax on dividends of Irish shares
A: The effective rate of income tax on Irish Dividends is your marginal tax rate. Irish companies withhold Dividend Withholding Tax on all dividends at the standard income tax rate of 22%. You should declare your gross dividend on your income tax form and you claim a credit for the DWT.
Q: Is there any tax exempt scheme in Ireland like ISAs in the UK ?
A: No. There is something called a Special Investment Account but the tax advantage is only 2%, and the costs far outweigh this. They are no longer promoted.
MORTGAGES
Q: Where can I get the cheapest mortgage ?
A: Over the long term, the cheapest are the EBS www.ebs.ie and Bank of Scotland ( 1800 556 577, no Irish website)From time to time, other mortgage providers will be temporarily cheaper, but don't forget a mortgage is usually for 25 years and what you want is the mortgage which will be cheaper over the long term. The EBS has a long history of being the cheapest and will probably continue to be so. However, in common with all other Irish banks they were charging mortgage interest rates 1% higher than they needed to. The Bank of Scotland came in to Ireland in 1999 and did us all a favour. All the other institutions cut mortgage interest rates by 1% for both new and existing customers. If I was getting a mortgage I would go to Bank of Scotland. If they ever leave the country we will see Irish rates creep up again. They deserve your support.
Q: Where can I get a 95% mortgage ?
A: The EBS and Bank of Scotland are very conservative in their lending policies. If they won't lend to you, shop around the other institutions. Currently the First Active and Irish Life seem to be most "flexible". If you can't find what you want, try a mortgage broker. While you I am wary of brokers, Rea Mortgage Services (www.rea.ie) seems to be different from the rest in that they seem to be genuinely customer oriented.
Q: Where can I get the BEST SAVINGS RATES
A: Unlike mortgage rates, you need to shop around for the best rate. The Nortern Rock is often the highest. Finfacts provides a list of deposit rates but it omits Northern Rock so I don't know how complete it is http://www.finfacts.com/Private/dip_rate/rates.htm
Q: What carpet-bagging opportunities are available in Ireland ?
A: The EBS is committed to its mutual status and is very unlikely to demutualise in the near future.
The Irish Nationwide is open to change. The minimum deposit is £5000 but the payoff would be quite high as it has very high reserves and very few carpetbaggers.
Friends Provident in Ireland is not a mutual company so Irish policyholders will not participate in any demutualisation.
Standard Life with-profits policyholders will participate in any demutualisation. See the Standard Life board on the Fool http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2240075000010000&sort=collapsed
There is nothing to stop Irish residents having deposits or policies with UK institutions. See www.carpetbagger.com for full details.
Q: Where do I sell an endowment ?
A: You are the best person to get value out of your endowment policy, so if at all possible, keep it.
If you must sell it , try :
The Endowment Purchasing Company (1850 595959) or Endowment Policy Exchanges Ltd ( 077 68132)
Q: Where is the best place to get data on Irish shares and to monitor my portfolio ?
A: ( Suggestions welcome as I don't use these sites )
The Irish Stock Exchange www.ise.ie
NCB www.ncb.ie
Sharewatch www.sharewatch.com
BROKERS
Q: Which is the best Irish broker for the small shareholder to deal with ?
A: The most commonly recommended is Morroghs in Cork http://www.morrogh.com/
Campbell O'Connor are also recommended from time to time : http://www.camocon.ie/
The cheapest was Fexco, but they are not taking on any new business by order of the Central Bank. My Experience as a customer is accurately reflected by many frustrating posts on the discussion boards and there is no way that the savings is worth the ulcers from dealing with them.
I use BCP but they have also been told by the Central Bank to stop taking new business.
Q: Can I deal online with an Irish broker ?
A: There are no online brokers in Ireland yet, but there probably will be by the end of 2000. Use an online broker in the UK for the larger Irish shares and US shares but watch out for the currency conversion costs !
For details see the Fool board on brokers http://boards.fool.co.uk/messages.asp?id=2040007000993000
Stocktrade http://www.stocktrade.co.uk/ seem interested in Irish business.
Q: How can I participate in Irish IPO'S from the start. ?
A: They are generally only open to people in the know. If you are a big customer of the sponsoring stockbroker, you may be invited to participate. However, I know people who claim to be big customers of the bigger stockbrokers and they were told they were not big enough.
INVESTMENT CLUBS
Q: Is there an equivalent to ProShare in Ireland ?
A: No. But the Fool Book is still useful in Ireland Buy it at : (Where is the link to the Fool shop ???? )
Q: Which brokers are interested in investment clubs ?
A: Morroghs in Cork http://www.morrogh.com/ are frequently recommended. I have no personal experience of them.
Q: What is the tax position ?
A: You should declare your share of gains and dividends on your tax return.
Q: Where can I join an Investment Club
A: Post a message on the Investment Clubs forums on Askaboutmoney, The Fool, Irishsharewatch or Sharetalk or the Irish Board on the Fool
APPENDIX
Irish Company Discussion Boards at the Fool
Quotes for Irish companies are only available if they also have a listing on the London Stock Exchange. Most of the companies with quotes also have their own discussion boards.
Allied Irish Bank (ALBK)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2060029000000000
Anglo Irish Bank (AIB)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2060008000000000
Baltimore Technologies (BLM)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2070038000000000
Bank of Ireland (BKIR)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2070046000000000
Eircom (EIR)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2100025000000000
First Active (FTA)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2110004000000000
Fyffes (FFY)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2110011000000000
Galen Holdings (GAL)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2120017000000000
Horizon Technology Group (HOR)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2130017000000000
Parthus Technologies (PRH)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2210033000000000
Ryanair Holdings (RYA)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2230026000000000
Tullow Oil (TLW)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2250044000000000
Viridian Group (VRD)
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?id=2270008000000000
Source:
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=6011237 |
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