[Ireland] Around 300,00 workers face up to €2,500 pandemic back tax repayments

Almost 300,000 workers in Ireland are facing repayments of up to €2,500 each in back tax from January because they received PUP and other payments during the pandemic, Irish Mirror reports.

Accountants are being contacted by “terrified” workers who were unaware that they were liable for this tax but have been notified by Revenue in the past fortnight.

If liable workers fail to come up with a plan to repay the back tax it could reportedly begin to be deducted from their salary from the start of the New Year.

It’s been revealed that almost 280,000 people have yet to contact the Revenue to organise a payment plan for their tax due. Those who fail to do this will face an automatic tax credit reduction.

However, many workers do not know how to use Revenue’s ROS (Revenue Online Service) system and are contacting accountants for help.

One accountant - who asked the Irish Mirror for anonymity, to protect her clients - said that the clawback of tax is totally unfair because it hits the exact workers who kept the country going during the pandemic.

She said, “This is effectively a pay cut for all private workers who worked through the pandemic at risk to themselves and their families.

“This scheme was implemented without informing the employees of the possible consequences.

“Bearing in mind that employers in the private sector received substantial hand-outs from the State and their PRSI was reduced from 11.05% to 0.5% for two years, this is immoral. The public sector has not been affected at all by this. But the supermarket workers who sold them their lunches while they were all working from home are affected. Why is that fair?”

People who received the PUP or TWSS schemes during lockdowns were given the option to pay back their income tax bill over four years. However, they had to file a tax return in order to clear the charge.

Revenue reportedly confirmed that the number of those left to contact them is close to 300,000 in relation to the PUP and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme payments.

Another accountant said, “It’s very unusual to see PAYE workers contacting accountants but they are, it’s usually the self-employed at this time of year.

“Don’t blame Revenue, it’s the Government’s fault for coming up with these badly thought-out schemes which penalise the very workers who kept the country going during Covid.

“My advice to PAYE workers who are worried about their tax liabilities is to go to the Citizens Advice people and ask for help.”

The Citizens Information Phone Service can be reached on 0818 07 4000

Source: Irish Mirror

(Quotes via original reporting)

Almost 300,000 workers in Ireland are facing repayments of up to €2,500 each in back tax from January because they received PUP and other payments during the pandemic, Irish Mirror reports.

Accountants are being contacted by “terrified” workers who were unaware that they were liable for this tax but have been notified by Revenue in the past fortnight.

If liable workers fail to come up with a plan to repay the back tax it could reportedly begin to be deducted from their salary from the start of the New Year.

It’s been revealed that almost 280,000 people have yet to contact the Revenue to organise a payment plan for their tax due. Those who fail to do this will face an automatic tax credit reduction.

However, many workers do not know how to use Revenue’s ROS (Revenue Online Service) system and are contacting accountants for help.

One accountant - who asked the Irish Mirror for anonymity, to protect her clients - said that the clawback of tax is totally unfair because it hits the exact workers who kept the country going during the pandemic.

She said, “This is effectively a pay cut for all private workers who worked through the pandemic at risk to themselves and their families.

“This scheme was implemented without informing the employees of the possible consequences.

“Bearing in mind that employers in the private sector received substantial hand-outs from the State and their PRSI was reduced from 11.05% to 0.5% for two years, this is immoral. The public sector has not been affected at all by this. But the supermarket workers who sold them their lunches while they were all working from home are affected. Why is that fair?”

People who received the PUP or TWSS schemes during lockdowns were given the option to pay back their income tax bill over four years. However, they had to file a tax return in order to clear the charge.

Revenue reportedly confirmed that the number of those left to contact them is close to 300,000 in relation to the PUP and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme payments.

Another accountant said, “It’s very unusual to see PAYE workers contacting accountants but they are, it’s usually the self-employed at this time of year.

“Don’t blame Revenue, it’s the Government’s fault for coming up with these badly thought-out schemes which penalise the very workers who kept the country going during Covid.

“My advice to PAYE workers who are worried about their tax liabilities is to go to the Citizens Advice people and ask for help.”

The Citizens Information Phone Service can be reached on 0818 07 4000

Source: Irish Mirror

(Quotes via original reporting)