Dominic Coyle answers readers questions.

CONSUMER RIGHTS

I signed up for a broadband service using my credit card. It transpired that the service provider could not provide me with the service but it wants to keep the sign-up fee of €99. I've disputed the payment with my credit card company. What rights do I have not to have to pay for something I did not get?

Don't tell me to go ComReg as I did and they were useless.

Mr T. MacU., Cork

I'd love to give you a black-and-white answer but I do not have enough information.

The key thing is what it says in any contract you signed with this provider. I cannot imagine that such a contract would include a non-refundable sign-up fee for a service that might or might not be provided but you need to check the small print.

The normal situation is that providers offer to supply the service providing your phone line is capable of carrying broadband. This is a simple check and I have never come across a situation where a provider takes a non-refundable fee before doing such a test.

Assuming that your contract makes no mention of a non-refundable sign up fee, this is a simple dispute between yourself and the broadband supplier. As I understand it, it does not involve the credit card company.

I contacted the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) - the one-stop shop for financial services regulation - and neither was prepared to give a black-and-white answer.

The credit card company is merely carrying out a payment authorised by yourself and, as I understand it, now processed by the card company. It appears to be playing entirely within the rules.

Your dispute seems to boil down to a contravention of the 1980 Sales of Goods and Provision of Services Act. You have paid for a service and the company you paid has not provided the service but wants to retain part of the payment.

I would suggest you take the company to the small claims court and report it to the Director of Consumer Affairs, which might find that it does come within its ambit - at least by way of providing advice.

IRISH NATIONWIDE

I am looking to invest in property and will need to take out a mortgage. I have looked at several providers and have narrowed this down to two.

One is Irish Nationwide and, while it will cost me slightly more, I was wondering if it was worth pursuing in the hope of getting a windfall.

I know about the two-year limit on savings but a colleague told me that this rule did not apply to mortgages. Is this so? Do you think I should pay the extra?

Mr J.M., Dublin

Notwithstanding what your friends told you, I am assured by the society that the qualifying rules for mortgage holders are essentially the same as for savers with the Irish Nationwide Building Society.

If, as expected, it does demutualise - lose its member-owned status - the only people to gain will be those who have been with the society for more than two years on the date the formal intention to change status is announced.

The one difference between savers and borrowers is the financial threshold for qualification. While savers will have to have anything from €127 to €20,000 in their accounts depending on when they joined the society, qualifying borrowers must owe more than €625 on their mortgages during the two years preceding the announcement.

That reduces your quandary to whether you should take a mortgage with Irish Nationwide and hope that it will be two years before a decision on demutualisation is announced.

Once again, the odds don't favour you. Irish Nationwide has made no secret of its intention to demutualise as fast as it can once changes in the law allowing it to do so are passed by the Oireachtas. It does not intend to pursue a flotation on the stock market or an immediate trade sale, meaning that its timetable is entirely in its own hands once the legislation is in place.

That was initially expected before the summer recess, although I was always somewhat sceptical about that given the inevitable slippage in Oireachtas business.

Finding a balance between the needs of Irish Nationwide, which wants to shed its mutual status, and rival EBS, which is determined not to be pushed into losing its, has been one of the key problems for those drafting the Bill.

It still appears likely to happen before year-end, which would mean that only those members who qualified at the end of 2002 would be eligible for windfalls. Having said that, you never know how these things proceed.

There is little real difference in the monthly repayments between the Irish Nationwide and the other institution you are considering. Given that the alternative mortgage lender is certainly not going to provide a windfall and there is still at least the possibility that the Irish Nationwide move could be delayed long enough for you to qualify, you stand to lose little by opting for that course.

SSIAs

I began monthly contributions to an SSIA in April 2002 but now intend to work in the UK for more than five years. I will not be leaving the country until the end of June or July.

Will I still be able to avail of the scheme since it will end in less than three years? I will be paying tax in the UK but do not envisage paying any taxes (inheritance, capital gains etc) in Ireland.

Will my tax residence status with regard to the SSIA scheme be unaffected because the scheme is due to end in less than three years and the scheme will have ended in the time that I am still tax resident?

Mr A.M., Kildare

You should be okay in retaining your special savings incentive account despite your move to Britain. The key element is the concept of ordinary residence for tax purposes.

Given that you have been resident for tax purposes in Ireland for more than three years, you have become ordinarily resident. This means that you will retain Irish residence for a full three tax years after the year in which you leave the State. In your case, this would bring you up to the end of December 2007. That will more than cover the period of your SSIA, which will mature in April 2007.

The constraint of ordinary residence is that you will have to continue to pay tax to the Irish authorities on all worldwide income except for income from a job carried out exclusively abroad plus a small annual exemption. This would exempt your British employment earnings but would mean that you would have to pay tax on anything else, such as an inheritance, under the Irish tax code if that did arise.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail to dcoyle@irish-times.ie. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice. Due to the volume of mail, there may be a delay in answering queries. All suitable queries will be answered through the columns of the newspaper. No personal correspondence will be entered into.