# Tax tips for PAYE workers



## Clarkey (23 Mar 2007)

Just a brief summary of some of the more common credits and how to claim them

1. Claim your service charges. You can claim for bin charges and water rates paid for the previous year. Ring your local tax office quote your p.p.s. number and inform them of amounts paid over previous 4 years.

2. Ensure you are claiming your schedule e expenses. certain professions are entitled to a deduction for assumed expenses incurred during employment. Nurses, teachers & doctors are some of the highest but most people are entitled to some deduction. Click on link to find out if you are entitled to anything. [broken link removed]

3. Make sure your mortgage is registered for Tax relief at source. A single person with a mortgage unregistered for 4 years could be ebtitled to more than €3,000 back in tax. Ring 1890 463626 and quote your pps number. They will tell you whether or not your mortgage is registered. If not fill out this form [broken link removed] or apply online [broken link removed]

4. Make sure Revenue know you are married. It is impossible to be worse off tax wise on joint assessment so ring local tax office and give both you and your spouse's pps numbers and date of marriage.

5. Claim your medical expenses. Your local pharmacy should be able to give you a print out of your spend with them for each of the previous 4 tax years and most doctor's will oblige too. Some dental work is tax deductible and if so dentist will provide you with a Med2 form which must accompany the claim. Fill out one of these [broken link removed] for each year you wish to claim

6. If you are in a trade union make sure you are getting the tax credit for this. Ring your local tax office and give details of when you joined and how much you are paying monthly.

7. If you have set up a private pension or prsa (not being deducted from your wages) ring tax office with all the relevant information including date of commencement and monthly payments as these are tax deductable. All claims can be backdated up to 4 years (subject to age restrictions)

8. If you have a dependent child and you are not living with a partner you are entitled to single parent's credit. The child only has to reside with you one night in the whole year for you to be entitled to this credit. This can be worth up to €2,600 of a tax credit for someone paying tax at 41%. Fill out this form [broken link removed]

9. If you are living rented accomodation then you are entitled to a tax credit for rent paid. As with all others claims can be backdated for up to 4 years. The only details required are the rent paid, landlord's name and address and the period for which you resided there. The form looks for the landlord's pps number but this is not a nescessity. Fill out this form [broken link removed]

10. If you are married, have children at home and your wife does not work then you are entitled to the homecarer's credit of €770. Ring the tax office to make sure you are getting this if entitled to it.

11. Tuition fee's paid for yourself or your children's college education are tax deductible up to a limit of €5,000 per course. The course must be an approved course. Revenue will confirm whether your course qualifys or not.

12. If you are leaving the country, returning to full time education or made redundant and do not intend working again before the end of the tax year you could be entitled to a refund based on unused tax credits. Fill in this form [broken link removed] and send to your local tax office along with your P45.

13. Interest paid on an unsecured bank or credit union loan used for the purchase, repair or improvement of your private home is allowable for tax also but you cannot claim TRS on this as it is an unsecured loan. Relief is granted through balancing statement after the year end. Send the interest certificate to your local tax office along with a letter outlining the purpose of the loan.

14. If you or your wife are receiving a social welfare payment and this ceases during the year then inform the tax office as more than likely the tax office will have a full year's payments coded into your tax credits. This could result in you over paying tax.

15. Request a balancing statement every year in january or february. You would be surprised how many people overpay tax through multiple employments, being on emergency tax or stopiing work half way through the year.

16. If you get somebody unhelpful in tax office ring again. You will more than likely get someone else and despite what people may think, most of revenue's employees will do their best to help you. There are exceptions  

These are just of the more common situations I have come across. Feel free to add to it. Hope this helps


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## ClubMan (23 Mar 2007)

Good post but isn't a lot of it already covered here?

Are you paying too much tax? A guide to tax credits


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## Clarkey (23 Mar 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Good post but isn't a lot of it already covered here?


 
Sorry clubman never saw that


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## Dman (23 Mar 2007)

Hi, 
could you please tell me what are the following? 

Ensure you are claiming your schedule e expenses. 

Thanks


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## Clarkey (23 Mar 2007)

Dman said:


> Hi,
> could you please tell me what are the following?
> 
> Ensure you are claiming your schedule e expenses.
> ...


 
Certain professions are allowed a deduction off their gross income for expenses they are assumed to have incurred. E.G. nurses are allowed €733 where they supply and launder there own uniforms. If you give your occupation I can check if you are entitled to anything.


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## ClubMan (23 Mar 2007)

See .


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## Paul J (26 Mar 2007)

Relating to point 13 above, does this mean that if I take out a credit union loan for the purpose of home improvments, then the interest is allowable for tax.

What if I am already claiming by max TRS on my mortgage. Am I still allowed a further tax deduction on top of this.

Will this be at the standard or marginal tax rate.

Thanks

Paul


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## ClubMan (26 Mar 2007)

Paul J said:


> Relating to point 13 above, does this mean that if I take out a credit union loan for the purpose of home improvments, then the interest is allowable for tax.


Yes - as long as it is used for that purpose. Any loan - not just a mortgage secured on the property - used to purchase or renovate one's _PPR _qualifies for owner occupier mortgage interest relief. If you have multiple loans that qualify then you will need to write to Revenue to sort out relief since the standard process just assumes a single (mortgage) loan with relief granted at source. Don't forget that a mortgage top-up scheduled for repayment over a similar period to the existing loan is more likely than not going to be cheaper than borrowing from the _CU_.


> What if I am already claiming by max TRS on my mortgage. Am I still allowed a further tax deduction on top of this.


 No - you cannot claim more relief than the normal limits.


> Will this be at the standard or marginal tax rate.


 Home loan interest relief is at standard rate on interest up to the relevant owner occupier limits.

[broken link removed]


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