I know this topic has been covered a lot previously but I'm still a little bit confused and would be grateful for some clarity on my situation -
I'm a British citizen who has been living continuously in Ireland since 2019, but have been out of the country for more than 70 days for some of the years, counting backwards from today:
Year | Start | End | Total days outside IE | Reckonable Residence
Year 1 | 17-Feb-2026 | 18-Feb-2025 | 60 | 365
Year 2 | 17-Feb-2025 | 18-Feb-2024 | 76 | 289
Year 3 | 17-Feb-2024 | 18-Feb-2023 | 79 | 286
Year 4 | 17-Feb-2023 | 18-Feb-2022 | 65 | 365
Year 5 | 17-Feb-2022 | 18-Feb-2021 | 59 | 365
Year 6 | 17-Feb-2021 | 18-Feb-2020 | 146 | 219
Year 7 | 17-Feb-2020 | 06-Aug-2019 | 23 | 195
I've taken the number of days of reckonable residence as 365 if I have been in the country for 70 days or less. I've also discounted travel days from the time spent outside of Ireland. In the last 5 years, there have been two years where I've spent more than 70 days abroad (years 2 and 3). What I'm unclear about is whether I can account for that time (total 155 days) using the 219 days of reckonable residence from Year 6, considering I also spent >70 days outside of Ireland in that year due to COVID? Or must I extend further into 2019, though it would not be a complete year, i.e. I moved to Ireland in August 2019.
A lot of the time spent abroad was due to visiting family for various reasons (general visits, relatives unwell, funerals) - is this reason sufficient? I'm not sure I exactly have formal evidence for these reasons, just the flight details.
In terms of proof of residency, I have been employed the entire time so can request the Employment Detail Summary documents for type A. For type B, I have WiFi bills back to 2023 but am struggling to get bills from earlier. Am I able to use bank statements for years 4 and 5 (and potentially years 6/7 if that's recommended)? The guide document only states credit card statements for type B rather than bank statements, which I do not have. Otherwise, what is considered a rental agreement? I had a mix of rental agency and cash type rental arrangements for the earlier years - I could probably request a letter from the agency, but for the informal arrangement what would be required from that landlord?
Thanks a million for any support in advance!
