Are you due a tax refund?
According to Revenue, close to half a million workers in Ireland have overpaid €620m in income tax in the last three years alone.
Many people are daunted by the prospect of interacting with the tax authorities in order to claim their tax back.
But when you remember that the average Irish tax refund is €1,880, it’s easy to see why it makes so much sense to check what you’re owed.
Money Jar have partnered with Taxback.com – the Irish tax refund experts – to answer some of the most common questions about Irish tax refunds.
What is a tax refund?
There are many reasons why you may have paid too much tax during the year.
A tax refund (or rebate), is a payment made to a taxpayer generally when the taxpayer has paid more tax than they needed to.
You may be entitled to claim tax back if too much income tax was deducted from your wages by your employer.
What’s more, while some tax credits (such as the Single Person and Employee PAYE tax credits) are applied to your income automatically, not all types of tax relief are. You must apply for many types of tax credit yourself – such as the Single Person Child Carer Credit, Home Carer’s Tax Credit and Dependant Relative Tax Credit.
Finally, you may also be entitled to claim tax relief on the costs of certain applicable expenses, such as GP visits, tuition fees, work-from-home costs, and more!
Who can claim a tax refund?
As it turns out, many workers in Ireland are entitled to claim tax refunds.
As previously mentioned, if you overpaid on your income tax, you could be due a tax refund.
However, you can also claim tax refunds for day-to-day expenses and tax reliefs, where applicable.
You are able to claim tax relief on a wide range of different expenses, all unique to your personal situation. Here are some of the most common types of tax relief in Ireland:
Medical bills
Did you know that the average family in Ireland spends over €2,600 a year on medical bills, while only four in ten families in Ireland claim all of the tax relief they are due?
Tax relief is available on certain medical bills at a standard rate of 20%.
These costs include: doctor and consultant fees, prescriptions, ambulances, physiotherapy, diagnostic procedures and more.
So, as you can imagine, that leaves quite a lot of money with the taxman.
If you spent, for example, €1,000 euro on medical bills in 2022 – that means you will be able to reclaim €200 of these costs!
Dental
Tax relief is available at 20% on certain dental expenses too.
This includes:
- Rip replacing
- Crowns
- Rembrandt-style etched fillings or veneers
- Inlays
- Braces and related treatments
- Root canals
- And more!
Tuition fees
Did you pay tuition fees for yourself or your loved one in the past four years?
Good news! The person who makes the payment for any third-level courses can claim relief on these costs.
If you are a parent paying for more than one child to go to college, there is no limit on the number of payments you can claim back on!
Year of marriage
Tied the knot recently? Congratulations!
The good news may not have stopped there though…
In the year of marriage, both you and your spouse are treated as single people for tax purposes.
However, you will be able to claim a tax refund if the tax you pay as two single people is higher than as a couple.
If you got married in 2022, any refund will be calculated after 31 December 2022.
Flat-rate expenses
If you need equipment or tools in order to carry out work, you may be able to claim flat-rate expenses.
This equipment that is relevant includes tools, uniform, and stationary.
The amount of the deduction varies by profession – for example, doctors can claim a deduction of €695, while teachers can claim a deduction of up to €518.
E-workers tax refund
Working from home has become the norm for many workers in Ireland over the past few years.
But did you know if you work from home, even part-time, you may be eligible for tax relief!
For example, you can claim back on the costs of electricity, heating and broadband used during the days you worked from home as a remote worker.
Single Person Child Carer Credit
If you care for a child on your own, you may be entitled to claim the Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit, or SPCCC for short.
SPCCC will reduce the amount of tax you pay helping you to save cash!
If you live with a qualifying child for more than the majority (6 months) of the year, it is likely you can claim this credit and you will be the primary claimant.
Currently the credit is worth up to €1,650.
When can I get my money back?
You can go back four years when applying for your tax refund. In other words, if this is your first time investigating your tax entitlements, you may be due quite a substantial amount back!
Some tax reliefs must be claimed at the end of the tax year, while others can be claimed when the expense occurs.
Many taxpayers prefer to wait until after the end of the tax year (31 December) to apply for a refund, as this provides a complete picture of everything owed.
What do I need in order to get my refund
That depends.
If you are looking to apply for a tax refund because you think you overpaid income tax on your salary, you will need to file a tax return. This may be a Form 11 or Form 12, depending on your circumstances.
In order to avail of the various tax reliefs and boost your tax refund, you will need to have all relevant documents (such as medical expense receipts) close at hand.
How can I get my tax back?
There are two main ways to apply for your tax refund.
Firstly, you could file a tax return with Revenue.
However, it’s even easier to use a tax agent like Taxback.com!
When you use Taxback.com, you can sit back and relax knowing you will get your maximum legal Irish refund without delay.
Remember, you can choose to file a tax return directly with Revenue yourself.
The main advantage of applying for tax back on your own is that it’s free.
However, if you’re a little unsure of what you can claim – or you would prefer not to fill out tricky tax paperwork – you should consider using the services of a tax agent.
Money Jar has partnered with Taxback.com to help you get your tax back easily online!
Taxback.com have specialised in Irish tax return filing for more than 25 years.
The beauty of their service is that they handle all the paperwork for you, check which tax reliefs you can claim and transfer your maximum refund straight to your bank account.
Their average Irish PAYE tax refund is €1,880. If you’re not due a refund, they won’t charge you a cent – that’s why it makes so much sense to check what you’re owed.
It takes just a couple of minutes to apply. You can kick-off your application by completing the short form here.
What’s more, they will also ensure you’re fully tax compliant, and will claim all of the tax reliefs that you are entitled to over the past four years!
