I’m a student, so will I have to pay tax on my part-time earnings?

QI HAVE recently started college in Waterford, and I have just got a weekend job in a local pub, which is great because I’m broke.

This is my first part-time job, so I’m wondering how much of my income will I have to pay in taxes?

ATHE good news is that most students will avoid taxes altogether if they are working part-time or doing a few hours a week, according to CEO of Taxback.com Joanna Murphy.

She said there is no tax-free allowance on income tax in Ireland, but a combination of tax credits and exemptions keeps lower earners out of the tax net.

Tax is charged as a percentage of your income (20pc or 40pc), depending on how much you earn and your marital status.

Once your tax liability is determined, you can deduct the credits you are entitled to, so you get your tax payable.

A student who is unmarried and entitled to both personal and PAYE (pay as you earn) tax credits in full – €3,300 (which is €1,650 by two) – can earn €16,500 without paying income tax, Ms Murphy said.

All earnings up to €13,000 are exempt from the Universal Social Charge (USC), and you only start paying USC once you pass this limit.

Earnings of €13,500, for example, would be subject to a total deduction of €90 a year – or €7.50 a month. PRSI, or social insurance, is charged at 4pc, but only on weekly earnings above €352.

Under this, no PRSI should be charged. For earnings between €352.01 and €424 a week, the 4pc PRSI is reduced by a PRSI credit.

There is no PRSI credit once gross weekly earnings exceed €424.

QARE there any lower-cost alternatives to private health insurance?

I am thinking of joining but am worried now that rates are increasing again.

ATHE next best thing to private health insurance would be to consider a good health cash plan.

These are designed to cover all your outpatient expenses such as GP, consultant, physiotherapy, dental, optical costs, etc, according to Dermot Goode of TotalHealthCover.ie.

They include cash allowances for everyday spending in hospital, which usually covers the public hospital charges, depending on the plan selected. However, they are not health insurance and therefore they won’t cover all your in-patient costs.

Also, health insurers will not give you credit toward waiting periods or age loadings for time spent on a cash plan, which you need to be aware of, Mr Goode said. He recommended the One Scheme 3, which he said was a goodvalue scheme for individual members from HSF Health Plan.

QMY SISTER passed away earlier this year. I lived with her for the last four years and was her carer. I inherited the property and I still live there now. During the summer, a pipe burst in the attic and there was a lot of water damage. The house was insured but the insurer is now saying it will decline the claim because the policy was in my sister’s name.

This seems really unfair. The insurer knew I lived in the property and I would have changed the policy to my name at the next renewal.

Do I have any recourse at all, even to get the claim partially paid?

AIT IS really unfortunate that this has happened, particularly given the year you’ve had. The issue you have encountered relates to non-disclosure, according to Deirdre McCarthy of InsureMyHouse.ie. She assumes the insurer’s argument is that you should have requested to switch the policy to your name earlier in the year. However, it sounds like you did not know it was incumbent upon you to do so and since the ‘risk’ in terms of insuring the property has not changed, there is a definite argument to be made that the insurer should honour the policy, Ms McCarthy says.

It is a problem that comes up time and time again, so much so that the Government recently introduced changes to the Consumer Insurance Contracts Bill, which will move some of the onus of disclosure to the insurer in circumstances where the consumer could not reasonably have known they were required to give the firm certain information, she added. Ms McCarthy’s advice is to ask your broker to speak with your insurer on your behalf. The broker should be able to iron this out for you. In the event you went directly to the insurer, she recommends that you send a letter, and set out your case for the firm to review things. Point to the changes in the Bill referred to here, which might help your case, Ms McCarthy said.