Who is entitled to tax relief on expenses?

I worked in germany for an Irish company on secondment from 2002 to 2004. Before I lwent I was told my net income would be the same as in Ireland but I would also recieve a fixed yearly relocation allowance net of all relevant taxes. I was however responsible for my all expenses in Germany. It turns our the taxes in Germany are more than in Ireland so my net income is sunstantially lower and 4 years later the compnay have now given me a bill for 10k which they say I owe to them for taxes over and above what I already paid. On top of this they are taking any money I recieved back for expenses which were tax deductible. They say this was agreed before hand but it was not. I've been told by an accountant this is illegal unless agreed by both parties. They only told us after we had completed the contract. This is not really a taxation question but more a legal question but though someone who knows something about tax may have encountered this problem before . Thanks

Re: Who is entitled to tax relief on expenses???

How was the 10k "tax bill" broken down?

Re: Who is entitled to tax relief on expenses???

Basically I had to declare everything on my tax returns including the relocation expenses gross and then my company were supposed to pay the tax that was owed on the relocation expenses. Now 3 years later my company are now saying they are claiming any rebate I recieved on my apartment expenses and moving. They waited until we had submitted all the returns and receipts before they told us. My stuff wasn't even worth the amount it cost to move it back to Ireland but I was advised by an accountant it would be tax deductible so went ahead and did it as with the tax relief it just made it worth it....now the company are trying to take the money I shold get back in tax....I just want to know if they can do this...

Re: Who is entitled to tax relief on expenses???

As an accountant from the sounds of it what they are doing seems to be illegal. But without knowing everything thats just an opinion on my part.
Id personal advice you to seek professional advice from either an accountant or solicitor first before doing anything.
If you want to check out your rights I'd recommend www.entemp.ie or ring the Labour Relations Commission (01) 6609662 or 1890 220227

Re: Who is entitled to tax relief on expenses???

Thanks, That's what my accountant said also. he said that if we had agreed it before hand then it would be ok but as they never mentioned it till now its illegal.

Thanks again for the info