Panel I: Claim for tax credits, reliefs, allowances and health expenses — Pages 22-26, Lines 515-546
THERE are 21 tax credits, allowances and reliefs in this section and here are summaries of the most common reliefs that you may be able to claim.
HOME CARER TAX CREDIT — LINE 515
The Home Carer tax credit may be due to you if you are jointly assessed and you or your spouse or civil partner, as a Home Carer, provided care for:
A child for whom you are entitled to Social Welfare child benefit,
A person who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity and such person normally resides with you for the year, or: A person aged 65 or over. It’s important to note that a spouse or civil partner cannot be one of the persons cared for under this relief.
The Home Carer tax credit is €1,000 (for 2016) subject to the Home Carer’s income, if any, remaining below an income threshold of €7,200. Where the income exceeds this threshold the tax credit is reduced by one half of the amount of Home Carer’s income that exceeds €7,200. Accordingly no credit is due if income exceeds €9,200.
EMPLOYEE TAX CREDIT — LINE 516
If you are in receipt of income subject to PAYE (ie, wages, salary, and occupational pension) you may claim an employee tax credit of up to €1,650. You may also be entitled to claim it if you are a recipient of Social Welfare payments; Widow, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partners (Contributory) Pension, Guardian’s Payment (Contributory), State Pension (Transition), State Pension (Contributory), Illness Benefit, Occupational Injury Benefit and Jobseekers Benefit.
If you are proprietary director (ie, you own 15pc or more of a company) you are not entitled to this credit.
EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT — LINE 517
The Earned Income tax credit can be claimed by you if you are a self-employed individual or proprietary director who is ineligible for the Employee tax credit. The maximum relief is €550 for 2016. Where an individual has income that qualifies for the Earned Income tax credit and the Employee tax credit, the combined tax credits cannot exceed €1,650.
TUITION FEES — LINE 524
If you are paying tuition fees for a student you may be entitled to tax relief at 20pc. Here’s what qualifies for the relief: Tuition fees paid to approved colleges for the 2016 academic year commencing on or after August 1, 2016, in respect of approved undergraduate courses of at least two years duration. The maximum limit relief in respect of qualifying fees for the academic year 2016 is €7,000 in respect of each course.
Tuition fees paid for certain training courses in the areas of information technology and foreign languages. The relief applies to fees ranging from €315 to €1,270 per student.
Tuition fees paid in respect of certain postgraduate courses, subject to a maximum relief of €7,000 per course.
The first €3,000 of each claim is disregarded for relief for a full time student and the first €1,500 for a part-time student.
Lists of approved courses in approved colleges are available on www.revenue.ie
You should note that the relief is not available in respect of exam fees, administration fees, registration fees, etc.
EMPLOYER PAID MEDICAL INSURANCE – LINE 527
If your employer paid Medical Insurance (including Dental Insurance) premiums on your behalf (or on behalf of your dependents) you will have been subject to payroll taxes on this benefit in kind. You are entitled to claim a relief for 20pc of the gross premium on your 2016 tax return.
There is a limit of €1,000 on the premium that can be claimed by individuals who are 21 years or over. The limit is €500 on the premium that can be claimed for child dependents.
HOME RENOVATION INCENTIVE (HRI) — LINE 529
If you have undertaken renovations to your home during 2016 you may be entitled to a tax credit under the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) scheme. The HRI enables homeowners or landlords to claim tax relief on repairs, renovations or improvement work that is carried out on their main home or rental property by tax-compliant contractors and that is subject to 13.5pc VAT.
You should complete the details of the tax credit due, which you will find on the HRI online claim you will have previously submitted to the Revenue Commissioners, at line 529.
The HRI is paid in the form of a tax credit at 13.5pc of qualifying expenditure, which can be set against your income tax over 2 years if you are a self-assessed taxpayer.
If you are a homeowner or a landlord, you must be up to date with your obligations under the Local Property Tax.
The qualifying work must cost at least €4,405 before VAT at 13.5pc, which comes to a total of €5,000 with VAT included. You will only get the tax credit in relation to a maximum of €30,000 (before VAT) during the period covered by the HRI.
The minimum credit is €595, based on the minimum qualifying expenditure of €4,405. The maximum is €4,050, based on the maximum qualifying expenditure of €30,000.
HEALTH EXPENSES — LINES 535 TO 546
If you have incurred medical expenses during the year you may be able to claim a tax credit of 20pc of the expenses. You do not need to submit a Form Med 1 with the return, just retain it if the Revenue Commissioners ask you for it at a later date.
Also, you do not need to send in the receipts to the Revenue Commissioners with your claim. However, you must keep the receipts for six years in case the Revenue Commissioners selects your return for examination.
Readers need to be careful not to claim medical expenses which have been fully reimbursed by your medical insurance provider. Also, routine dental expenses such as fillings and standard extractions expenses do not qualify for relief. Root canal treatment and crowns are considered non-routine.
The expenses relating to elective cosmetic surgery are also not allowed, whereas if you go a few rounds with Conor McGregor, the Revenue Commissioners may be willing to allow the cost of the surgery!
If you maintain an individual on a full-time basis in a nursing home, you can also claim relief for the health expenses for that individual.