No claim… no gain, so fill in your tax form!
With half a BILLION up for grabs, here are 10 breaks to get you started
Filling in a tax return when you don’t have to sounds a bit mad. Most people have an aversion to filling out any sort of form – especially tax. So why bother when you’re a PAYE worker and don’t have to? Well there are almost half a billion reasons – and this is the time to get to it!
Around €480m is going abegging because many taxpayers don’t bother filling out a form at this time of year to claim what they are entitled to, the Revenue Commissioners revealed this week.
This January more than 472,000 PAYE Income Tax Returns have already been processed for 2023 – up almost 30% on the same period last year. And over half of these – 275,000 returns filed to date – resulted in a tax refund. But hundreds of thousands of people don’t bother filling out a return at all – even though over half should get money back.
Revenue launched a campaign this week to advise PAYE taxpayers that they can claim reliefs by filling out a tax return.
‘Since 1 January 2024, €203m has already been refunded to individuals’ bank accounts as a result of the 2023 returns filed by PAYE taxpayers to date. But a further €480m may have been overpaid during the year, said Finance Minister Michael McGrath.
He urged ‘all PAYE taxpayers to log on to Revenue’s myAccount service to finalise their tax position as soon as they can, to ensure they have claimed all tax credits and reliefs they are entitled to and receive any refund they are due.’ Here are some relatively new tax breaks:
MORTGAGE INTEREST
You can claim a new mortgage interest tax credit from the end of this month. This will be based on any extra interest you paid on your mortgage in 2023 compared to the amount you paid in 2022.
The tax credit amounts to 20% of the increase and is capped at €1,250.
Around 160,000 homeowners are expected to be eligible – but you have to claim it to get it.
WORKING FROM HOME
Claim tax relief on utility bills such as heating, electricity and broadband when you work from home.
RENT TAX CREDIT
This went up in the budget from €500 to €750 per single person and €1,500 per couple. It’s a credit, which means it’s worth that much into your hand. That’s been criticised as not enough to offset sky-high rental costs but it’s better than a ‘kick in the pants’ and well worth claiming.
It has also been extended to include students in digs or ‘rent a room’ tenancies. Rent tax credit can be claimed for the years 2022-2025, so claims can be backdated.
HELP-TO-BUY-SCHEME
The Help-to-Buy Scheme will continue until the end of 2025.
This gives first-time buyers an income tax rebate of 10% of the purchase value of a newly built home up to €30,000. The maximum amount available was temporarily increased in 2020 and applies until December 31, 2025, on homes worth up to €500,000.
There are also some old reliables to claim money back for as well. Here’s a list of the expenses most likely to be claimed courtesy of Taxback.com:
NURSING HOME FEES
You can claim back up to 40% on nursing home fees for either yourself or a loved one.
MEDICAL AND DENTAL
The cost of GP, consultant or dental bills (and much more) can be claimed for. It’s only at the bottom rate of tax (20%) but this is one of the most lucrative tax reliefs.
SINGLE PARENT/CARER
This is a big one yet it’s something families fail to claim back surprisingly often.
‘If you care for a child or a dependent loved one at home, you could be due tax relief worth €1,600,’ says Taxback.com
MARRIED COUPLES
Married couples can choose to be
assessed separately – or share credits and allowances, which often leads to a tax-saving.
However, you will continue to be taxed as two single people in the first year after marriage.
‘You may qualify for a refund if you pay more tax for the year, as two single people, than you would if you had been jointly assessed,’ Revenue advises.
‘You can claim the refund of the difference after 31 December of the year.’
TUITION FEES
You can claim tax relief on tuition fees (including the student contribution) for eligible third level education courses. The relief is available to whoever is paying the cost of the fees – whether students or parents.
‘And if you are paying for more than one child to go to college, the good news is that there is no limit on the number of individuals for whom you can claim,’ says Taxback.com
FLAT-RATE EXPENSES
Flat-rate expenses are meant to cover the cost of equipment an employee needs for work.
This may include tools, uniforms and stationery.
There are 184 categories of flat-rate expenses – you can see some of them in our table, above – ranging from €2,476 for members of the RTÉ concert orchestra to just €21 for a kitchen porter.
If you’re a trombonist or flugelhorn player in the RTÉ concert orchestra, you’ll know all about this tax relief and will certainly claim it. Likewise, nurses (€733), consultants (€695) and teachers (€518) will be all over this perk.
But if you’re a kitchen porter you get a pittance – and even a motor worker who buys their own overalls and tools only gets €52.
Why? Don’t they have to keep their overalls clean and even buy tools?
Who knows?
The whole system looks like it was drawn up in the class-ridden 1950s.
It blatantly favours middleclass professions and public sector workers, and now seems classist, arbitrary and annoying (especially if you work in a trade). Probably knowing this, the Revenue tried to revamp the whole system in 2019 but this was postponed indefinitely during Covid.
Regardless of the overall fairness, it’s still worth claiming for most professions, so check them out on the Revenue site.
Flat-rate expenses can be claimed by completing an Income Tax return.
You can find this form in PAYE Services in myAccount.