Most people make it their business to have as little as possible to do with tax authorities, certain that engagement will inevitably mean a bill somewhere along the line. But figures from Revenue say that’s not the case.
It reckons one in four of all PAYE taxpayers is paying too much tax — mostly by failing to claim one or more tax reliefs to which they are entitled. And the average amount they lost out on in 2024 was €900, a not insignificant sum.
Launching an awareness campaign on Tuesday, Revenue said about 530,000 people fail to lodge a claim annually.
But what are the reliefs available, and how can you go about claiming them? Revenue says the main issues are with health expenses, the rent tax credit, the mortgage interest tax credit, education fees, remote working relief and something called flat rate expenses.
What can I claim on health expenses?
You are entitled to get back 20 per cent — €1 in every €5 spent — of anything you have paid in medical expenses that are not covered by private health insurance, your medical card or the drug payment scheme.
That includes visits to a GP or a consultant by you or your children when you pay for them, maternity care, diagnostics such as the cost of scans and blood tests, physiotherapy, even the cost of special diets for coeliacs or diabetics.
People often forget to claim for prescriptions. Even with the Drug Payment Scheme, you have to pay the first €80 in a month and you can claim relief on this.
On dental care, non-routine care such as crowns, wisdom tooth extraction or root canal treatment will be covered but the cost of the check-up and routine care like fillings are not.
Most people should separately qualify for a free check-up on the back of your PRSI record, as well as an eye test which is also not covered by the relief. Another exception that falls outside the cover is cosmetic surgery in most cases.
If you’re paying for someone’s nursing home care, you can claim that cost back at the higher 40 per cent rate, assuming you pay tax at that level.
[ One in four PAYE workers are overpaying tax. Can you claim money you’re owed?Opens in new window ]
What is available for renters?
People who are renting can claim the Rent Tax Credit. It is worth €1,000 for a single person this year or €2,000 for a couple sharing a home.
If you haven’t claimed for previous years, you can claim €750 per person for 2024 and €500 per person for 2022 and 2023.
Given how much rents are coming to these days, it is money worth having.
And if you were previously put off claiming it because you didn’t want to upset the landlord for details of his Residential Tenancies Board registration, don’t be. Revenue has confirmed you can claim even if you don’t have those.
What if I own my home?
Homeowners aren’t forgotten, at least not those who found themselves paying sharply higher mortgage bills in the past couple of years.
The Mortgage Interest Tax Credit is available to anyone who had an outstanding balance on the mortgage on their family home at the end of 2022 of between €80,000 and €500,000 and who paid more interest on their loans in 2023 and 2024 than they did in 2022.
You’ll know if you have by looking at the end-year certificate of interest that your mortgage lender sends in January for the previous year.
You can claim €1 back for every €5 extra you paid up to €6,250 per property so it could see you get back as much of €1,250 of tax you paid in each of those years.
What about education costs?
If you have children in third level education and you are paying more than €3,000 per year as a family for their fees, you will be entitled to claim back 20 per cent of anything above this figure.
Coincidentally, the fees for most undergraduate courses are €3,000 but if you have more than one child in third level at any time, are paying for postgraduate fees or if your children are in undergraduate courses with fees above €3,000, you can claim.
There is an upper ceiling on what you can claim — €7,000 — which means this relief could be worth as much as €1,400 to you per year.
I’m working from home. Does that entitle me to anything?
Indeed you can — 30 per cent of the cost of electricity, heating and broadband for those days you work from home over the year.
That applies from 2022. For 2021, you are limited to 10 per cent of the cost of heat and electricity and 30 per cent of broadband costs.
This relief is paid at your highest rate of tax — so 40 per cent of that 30 per cent if you pay tax at the higher rate. But if your employer pays you a tax-free working-from-home allowance of up to €3.20 per day, you need to deduct this from any claim.
Fair enough but what are these “flat rate expenses” you spoke about earlier?
Flat rate expenses are a set figure that people in certain jobs are allowed to claim to defray the cost of things like work clothes or equipment. You can find out if you qualify and, if so, for how much, by looking up the list here.
How do I go about it?
The key thing about claiming reliefs is that you will have to file a tax return. But this is easier than it sounds. Once you register with Revenue’s myAccount, Revenue will pre-fill your tax return for the relevant year with the pay details it has for you from your employer.
All you have to do is check that these are correct, add in details of any other income you might have from anywhere else and claim the relevant reliefs.
Is there a time limit?
The key thing to remember is the four-year rule. If you want to claim back expenses against your tax bill, you must do so within four years — that’s four years after the year in which the expense was incurred. So, if you have eligible expenses that arose in 2021, you will need to file a claim with Revenue by the end of this year, 2025.
It’s worth taking the time to see if you are one of the more than 500,000 people to whom Revenue reckons it owes money.
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