More than 50% of workers do not claim their taxes back annually
More than 5 in 10 people do not claim the tax reliefs and refunds they are owed on a yearly basis. These is one of the headline findings from the latest Taxpayer Sentiment Survey 2022 from Taxback.com.
A knowledge gap still exists for employees around tax entitlements and benefits, which was just one of the areas explored at the tax refund specialist’s Employee Wellbeing Summit held earlier this week.
The newly released survey results also show that: Almost 8 in 10 people are unaware of Flat Rate Expenses (FREs) – the tax relief that exist to help tens of thousands of workers across a broad range of professions to offset costs of uniforms and equipment required for the course of their work.
17% of people said they’ve only ever claimed tax refunds once in their life, while 11% said they only do it “very sporadically”; and 1 in 5 have either not set up a Revenue online account and/or do not know what this is.
Taxback.com say the impact of the pandemic and subsequent return to work has changed norms within the workplace, resulting in a new focus on wellbeing among the workforce and business leaders, which were explored at this week’s summit.
Barry Cahill, Director of Taxback.com’s Employee Financial Wellbeing Service, commented, “It’s surprising, and somewhat alarming, to find that almost half of us are still not claiming back our tax refund at the end of the year. This figure should be much, much higher. However, the data speaks for itself – it’s clear that people remain uncertain, reticent, and/or unwilling to approach the topic of their taxes, often for fear of the process complicating their lives more. This is a misnomer we very much want to quash as, for the vast majority of people, we find that there is money owed to, not by, the taxpayer.
“From a HR and management perspective, now more than ever, supporting the emotional and financial wellbeing of your employees is crucial and has a very positive impact on both employees and your business”.