... If you WAnt to commute 2 hrs each WAy to work you can find much cheaper. On top of federal income tax (roughly 25-28%), CA has 13.3% state tax, highest in the country. As Liam mentioned, 1% property tax and the additional add on; homeowners insurance, homeowners association (pays for community pools,parks) which could be $150-$400/month, earthquake insurance (still WAiting the the "big" one to happen, ect). I commute depending which office I work at anywhere from 20-55 miles each WAy. Current petrol prices $2.65/gallon. I do find in Ireland they tend not to ...

... with are Irish (not all are), there's a good chance they have some useful suggestions as to what to try for Ireland. It would be worth contacting them to ask if they have any advice. The very first thing I would be finding out is what are the repercussions of being without legal status for too long in Ireland. I know in the US there are pretty Heavy penalties, one being you are barred from the country for at least 10 years. You'd WAnt to avoid that somehow if possible. Best of luck Pauline

I'm planning on selling my old car in the US before moving over (it has 250K on it, so it's time, even if I WAsn't relocating), and I'm thinking about what I WAs going to do in terms of transportation in Ireland. My first thought WAs simply to buy a lightly used hybrid, and when I WAs looking at Cars.ie, this seemed affordable. But in looking into things further, the reality of the 23% value added tax, plus other taxes and fees set in, and it looks like owning a car there is *very* expensive unless I get a vehicle with a lot of mileage on it. Plus, I'm ther ...

Hello everyone, I’m planning to relocate to a new house in a few months. Now, I need help with the entire process seeing the numerous and Heavy furniture pieces that must be transported from Ireland to the UK. Since it’s my first time to deal with this process, I’m thinking of hiring a moving specialist. My neighbour recommended one of the removal companies Ireland to UK that he knows. Do you think it’s a good idea to seek their services?

Hi John I reached out to a past contributor on the site. He is a Managing Director of a moving company based in Ireland. I think you will find his answer to your question quite useful. I'll post it below here. Let me know if you WAnt me to put you in touch. ~Liam --- Buying a container and shipping it as user owner is certainly possible. If he WAnts that option there should be no reason why he can’t find a mover or a freight company to co-ordinate that for him. After clearance on this side, we (potentially we) would arrange haulage from the port with a ...

Hi, I'm Chris and my wife is Jeannie. We live in Dallas and are going to move to Ireland when we retire. Now we just need to retire! (Hopefully soon.) My two biggest questions are in the areas of real estate and health care. Liam (or anyone else) I noticed in an earlier reply that you said the model we use in the US with a realtor representing the buyer isn't common in Ireland. Did I get that right? So buyers tend to represent themselves? With being able to search on the internet (I've found myhome.ie to be very good) I actually do think that the buyer's agent model is becoming kind of outdated. People can mostly find the properties that they like without a realtor. But when it comes time to make an offer, get the required inspections, government documentation, etc,... I can see a buyers agent being useful - particularly for a non-Irish citizen. Perhaps there are lawyers that can play {some} of that role. Can you elaborate on how all that works. I'm also curious about the all in costs of the buying transaction. Here in the US, as I alluded to above, there are lots of inspections (termites in Texas!), document fees ad infinitum. I've seen a "stamp Duty"(1%?) referenced on myhome.ie. Is that similar to the property tax we pay here in the US. In Texas I pay ˜2% of my home's appraised value - but I pay it annually!!! I think I like the Irish model much better. 😉 Health care. So I think I've read that we have to buy private insurance. Yes? But I looked around and some of the prices seemed remarkably good. In the US for my wife and me and I think we would be paying $10-15k.year until medicare kicks in when we turn 65. It looked like I could similar private insurance in Eire for maybe a tenth of the US cost. Can that be right? What am I missing? Sorry for being so long-winded in my intro. I'll go away and think of more questions. But thanks in advance for any help on the housing and health fronts! Chris

Hi all! I am wondering if anyone's had any experience shipping one or two boxes from the US to Ireland? If so, what carrier would you recommend? I am planning on taking clothes and shipping a limited amount of belongings (sentimental gifts, rare books/comic books, things that would be very costly to replace, etc). There seems to be quite a lot of options and some seem more like they would be more inclined to ship items such as furniture. Additionally, is there anything, customs or Duty tax wise that would be helpful to know? Thanks!

My understanding is a car can qualify in the one time import Duty exemption when you initially move. I read it somewhere, but the vehicle must pass NCT right away.

... employment or not. Slightly different rules if you are shipping a car, and are applying for VRT relief. More info on that here. The shipping company may be able to hold them in Ireland for you until you have an address figured out. However, if you WAit until you arrive and get setup with an apartment, then your things may not arrive for another 4-6 months. I recommend shipping them ahead of time if possible. I hope this helps. Welcome to the site 🙂 Liam

Hey Nick, Fairly recently, there WAs a change to the rules for pet moves to Ireland. Until that point, pet relocation companies were a requirement, and all pets had to go through Dublin. I've had confirmation from another mover on here, that that is no longer the case. However, if you arrive into Ireland as your first port of entry in to the EU, then you still need to go through the Lissenhall vet check in Dublin. Aer Lingus, have long been an approved carrier, but generally it's down to the individual airlines whether they will transport pets or not. Vari ...