Hi all, a few years back I read (incorrectly it seems) that we could finally claim tax relief on child maintenance. It made sense to me at the time since I had to earn up to €1000 Gross to pay €500 child maintenance out of my NET pay. So I went to Revenue and put in the amount I paid each year and got some tax back on those years. In the last few weeks Revenue contacted me about a compliance check and asked about the maintenance. I explained what it was and they said I cannot claim relief on child maintenance and they said I have to pay back the money.
If I was in the wrong claiming it then I have no issue paying back the money they gave me but I would like some clarification on the what they are asking for.
For each year 2016 - 2019 they sent me the amount I owed (liability) but also interest and a penalty.
Example:
It is the Interest and Penalty that I would like explained.
What is the interest value for exactly? 30% seems very high for any interest rate. Is it money they would have made from a bank if that money was in an account instead of being give to me? And conversely if I made a tax claim for 2016 for 10000 do they calculate the interest on the claim as if that 10K was in my account instead of them having it?
The penalty however is what really annoyed me. As I said I have no issue paying back what was not mine to begin with but they explained the penalty as "A penalty has been applied to this liability. The amount of the penalty is based on the nature of the behaviour that led to the default which in this case is considered to be deliberate. " This implies that I made the original claim knowing that I should not, essentially trying to commit fraud or theft and that was definitely not the case. I made the claim in error because I had the wrong information. Whatever about the interest I feel like if I pay the penalty I am admitting to being guilty of that accusation.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
If I was in the wrong claiming it then I have no issue paying back the money they gave me but I would like some clarification on the what they are asking for.
For each year 2016 - 2019 they sent me the amount I owed (liability) but also interest and a penalty.
Example:
Year | Liability | Interest | Penalty |
2016 | 4440.56 | 1495.3 | 222 |
It is the Interest and Penalty that I would like explained.
What is the interest value for exactly? 30% seems very high for any interest rate. Is it money they would have made from a bank if that money was in an account instead of being give to me? And conversely if I made a tax claim for 2016 for 10000 do they calculate the interest on the claim as if that 10K was in my account instead of them having it?
The penalty however is what really annoyed me. As I said I have no issue paying back what was not mine to begin with but they explained the penalty as "A penalty has been applied to this liability. The amount of the penalty is based on the nature of the behaviour that led to the default which in this case is considered to be deliberate. " This implies that I made the original claim knowing that I should not, essentially trying to commit fraud or theft and that was definitely not the case. I made the claim in error because I had the wrong information. Whatever about the interest I feel like if I pay the penalty I am admitting to being guilty of that accusation.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks