Thousands of workers in line for tax refund of around €880

PAYE workers could be in line for a windfall average of €880 by simply submitting their tax refund applications for the Irish tax year that ended on December 31.

Tax professionals taxback.com say that their current average tax refund is €880 for a PAYE worker – but because the Government has gnawed away at various tax reliefs over the last few years, they expect that average to drop as the years go on.

“With the austerity Budgets over the last few years, it’s obvious that people are paying more tax than they were five years ago. This should really bring it home to people that they absolutely should claim back their entitlements,” said Christine Kiely of www.taxback.com

Taxback.com say that although there have been a variety of cuts to tax reliefs in recent years many people are unaware of the fact that you can still reclaim tax as far back as 2010 when the tax reliefs were perhaps more generous.

 “There is still a long list of tax reliefs available to people that could result in savings of hundreds of Euro but many of these go unclaimed every year either due to a lack of awareness or apathy.

“A lot of people still find applying for a tax refund confusing or complicated, resulting in them paying more tax than is necessary and losing out on entitlements.

“Revenue has made attempts to educate taxpayers as to their entitlements regarding tax credits and reliefs. However, despite this we believe that there are still millions of euro going unclaimed each year,” she added.

Taxback.com say that three main reliefs that have been changed in the last few years – but can still be claimed for.

While the rate at which tax relief can be claimed on medical expenses has been slashed from 41% back in 2008 to 20%, the relief is still available and can be claimed on most medical expenses incurred and on qualifying non-routine dental expenses.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.