Can you save a bundle with TV, calls and internet deal?

QWho offers the best deal for phone, TV and broadband? I see Sky has a new special offer but I like the idea of free sports with Eir.

AIt’s hard to compare the various ‘bells and whistles’ offered by these three-way bundle packages. Eir appears to have the cheapest deal at €25 a month for six months and €85 a month thereafter (online through Switcher.ie and Bonkers.ie.)

So in the first year you pay €660. But you also get €100 cash back, 61 channels, unlimited anytime calls to Irish and UK numbers and the sport pack, which includes Premier League soccer.

Sky charges €690 for the first year with 55 channels, including Sky Atlantic, so you’ll be first to see Game Of Thrones and other highly rated dramas. You also get free off-peak calls to Irish phones.

A big plus for Sky is that its contract is for 12 months, while Eir’s covers 18 months. This means Eir charges €85 a month for 12 months after the six month-discount is up.

With Sky, the €55 a month deal lasts 12 months and so does the contract. So after a year, you’re free to play the field and move elsewhere.

With Eir, you also pay more in the long run with an average of €713 over three years (taking even two €100 cash backs into account).

At the 2016 Switcher Broadband Awards, Sky won the overall award for best broadband provider, as well as the one for best customer service.

A Switcher spokeswoman said: ‘Both products have the same “up to” broadband speed. However, the calls packages are different, so customers need to decide whether they require calls to other countries.

‘With Sky, customers get access to on-demand TV at no extra cost and their TV package is considered to be best in class.’

It might also be worth waiting to see what other providers have to offer as we are only coming into switching season now.

QA friend wishes to top up my mortgage to help me to buy a home. I know the gift tax threshold is €15,000 for a non-relative. Can he gift me this and then give more to my parents, who could then pass it on to me, tax-free?

AThe Revenue would treat any payment routed through someone else as having come directly from your friend. He could give you another €3,000 as well as the €15,000, however. Anyone can give anyone else €3,000 tax-free every year, assuming the normal threshold not already used up, advises Cathal Maxwell of taxback.com.

However, such arrangements could fall foul of your bank. They usually allow gifts to be taken into account for mortgage top-ups only when a blood relative such as parents are involved to avoid third parties making a claim on the property the lenders use as security for your loan.

QIf I rent out a room through AirBnB, what tax will be due? Can I save tax through the rent-aroom scheme?

AYou can’t avail of the renta-room scheme as it’s short-term letting. So any income you get is taxable as such. You’re also likely to be hit by capital gains tax when you sell up. But you can write off expenses.