DIRT is Deposit Interest Retention Tax. In general, interest paid or accrued in respect of deposits is chargeable to DIRT. The current DIRT rate is 25% following an increase in this rate by 2% in the April 2009 Supplementary Budget. RaboDirect automatically deduct DIRT at source.

Who can apply for DIRT Exemptions?

Customers are advised to contact Revenue for queries in relation to their personal eligibility for DIRT exemptions but the following persons may be exempt from paying DIRT:

Generally, you can claim exemption from DIRT in the following ways:

1. OVER 65

In 2007 The Finance Act introduced new arrangements that allow you to have any interest earned on money on deposit credited to your savings account by your Financial Institution without deduction of DIRT, where you satisfy certain conditions:

• Either you or your spouse (if appropriate) is aged 65 or over when making the declaration

and 

• You and your spouse's (if appropriate) total income for the year will be below the relevant annual exemption limit i.e. total annual income does not exceed the exemption limit for the year.

To claim exemption, you need to send RaboDirect a fully completed Revenue DE1 Form.

Click here to download the DE1 Form

Further details can be obtained from the Revenue website http://www.revenue.ie/  or by phoning Lo-call 1890 306 706. 

2. PERMANENTLY INCAPACITATED

You may be eligible for a DIRT exemption if you or your spouse is permanently incapacitated and you satisfy the conditions for a refund of DIRT. You should send a DE2 Form directly to Revenue who will, where appropriate, issue a notification to RaboDirect not to deduct DIRT.

Click here to download the DE2 Form

Further details can be obtained from the Revenue website http://www.revenue.ie/  or by phoning Lo-call 1890 306 706.

Note: A joint account will only qualify for the DIRT exemption where the qualifying account holders are husband and wife. If you wish to have a joint account exempted from DIRT, you must provide the full names of the two account holders on the declaration form and both account holders should sign it. A person who holds power of attorney from an account holder may sign in place of the account holder.

To reclaim DIRT for the previous year you will need to contact your local Revenue Office. For a listing of Revenue Offices, please visit www.revenue.ie. The Revenue may require a bank statement or interest certificate showing the DIRT which was paid by you. To access this information, simply log in to your account in the usual way with your Digipass and click on Interest certificate. You can then print off your statement for the Revenue.

To ensure your account is not subject to DIRT on December 31st this year, please forward a completed DE1 form to our FREEPOST address. Once you have submitted the form to us we will take care of the rest

You can download the form here - DE1 Form. You can also obtain this information from the Revenue website http://www.revenue.ie/ or by phoning Lo-call 1890 306 706. (print in colour if printing)