Did not know we had to declare Carers allowance

Hi we got married a few weeks ago. I have informed the tax office of our marriage. My spouse has being claiming Carers allowance for our son since 2010 and now we have being told we should have declared this back then as Carers is a taxable income. This came up when we asked about the Carers tax credit which we see we should be entitled to now. This has us worried we never realised that we had to tell revenue about the Carers allowance I am a Paye worker on low wages around 22k a year nett and would really struggle if we do have to back pay etc. I have even read you can get fined for not declaring Carer's allowance I am worrying over noting any advice? My wife only income is the carers allowance 233 a week and we have two children. My wages are around 400/week after tax, usc etc. we are getting 20euro a week FIS

Ger

On the basis that you only got married a few weeks ago I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Your wife would have her own Personal Credit of €1650 and payments from the DPS would mean that she would get the PAYE Cr of €1,650.

This means she could earn €16,500 without paying any tax. Nothing to worry about.

Now that you are married she will only be able to transfer the surplus credits of approx €800 to you.

Thanks for the advice all sorted rang them today and they just noted she is receiving Carers and I have to ring back in 2014 so they set us up for Home Carers Tax Credits so might even gain a bit from what I understood