[Ireland] Refunds due after nearly half a million people overpaid tax by €600

Irish households have been urged to review the level of income tax they are paying after it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of people are overpaying on their PAYE income every year, Independent.ie reports.

The call follows the news that close to half a million people overpaid a total of €300m in income tax last year alone.

According to Revenue, over the last three years, a combined €620m has been overpaid in income taxes by PAYE workers despite household budgets being under the strain of the cost-of-living crisis.

The figures indicate that a typical taxpayer may be missing out on around €1,000 in tax refunds from Revenue.

Experts at Taxback.com said the average tax refund its customers receive is even higher, at €1,880.

Figures obtained by Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty reportedly show that around 300,000 taxpayers overpaid income tax in 2019. Revenue puts the overpayment by these workers that year at €170m.

In 2020 around 270,000 are estimated to have overpaid a total of €150m in income taxes and last year €300m was overpaid by 450,000 taxpayers.

There are currently around 2.5 million taxpayers in the State.

Revenue has urged PAYE taxpayers to file a tax return to ensure they are getting all the tax credits and allowances they are entitled to get each year.

Tax experts said many taxpayers are entitled to additional tax credits or reliefs that are not automatically applied during the year. This could include the home carer tax credit or year of marriage tax relief.

Workers who incur medical or certain dental expenses during the year will likely be entitled to a refund of 20 per cent of the cost.

According to Taxback.com chief executive Joanna Murphy, emergency tax is common among young workers, such as students or those starting their first employment.

In a Dáil reply, Mr Doherty was told by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe that Revenue pays out millions of euro to PAYE workers every year who have overpaid their taxes.

Mr Donohoe said, “To date, Revenue has refunded €430m to 620,000 taxpayers in respect of the 2021 tax year.

“In respect of tax year 2020, €440m has been refunded to 660,000 taxpayers, while just over €500m was refunded to 800,000 taxpayers in respect of 2019.”

Despite this, millions of euro are still owed to hundreds of thousands of PAYE taxpayers in overpaid income tax.

Revenue is currently writing to taxpayers who may have overpaid or underpaid tax in these years, inviting them to submit returns to finalise their tax position. In the past month, Revenue has reportedly written to more than 50,000 PAYE taxpayers.

Revenue said it makes preliminary end-of-year statements available to PAYE taxpayers through the myAccount service each year, setting out each taxpayer’s provisional tax position for that tax year, based on information available on Revenue records.

It said taxpayers who want to claim a refund for overpaid tax should complete an income tax return.

Mr Doherty particularly encouraged people to check and claim overpaid tax in midst of the cost-of-living crisis.

He said the amounts that could be claimed could go some way to meeting the increased costs of energy, motor fuel, mortgages and food.

Experts said almost every worker will be entitled to claim additional credits or relief and said the best way to do this is to file a tax return.

Source: Independent.ie

(Quotes via original reporting)

Irish households have been urged to review the level of income tax they are paying after it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of people are overpaying on their PAYE income every year, Independent.ie reports.

The call follows the news that close to half a million people overpaid a total of €300m in income tax last year alone.

According to Revenue, over the last three years, a combined €620m has been overpaid in income taxes by PAYE workers despite household budgets being under the strain of the cost-of-living crisis.

The figures indicate that a typical taxpayer may be missing out on around €1,000 in tax refunds from Revenue.

Experts at Taxback.com said the average tax refund its customers receive is even higher, at €1,880.

Figures obtained by Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty reportedly show that around 300,000 taxpayers overpaid income tax in 2019. Revenue puts the overpayment by these workers that year at €170m.

In 2020 around 270,000 are estimated to have overpaid a total of €150m in income taxes and last year €300m was overpaid by 450,000 taxpayers.

There are currently around 2.5 million taxpayers in the State.

Revenue has urged PAYE taxpayers to file a tax return to ensure they are getting all the tax credits and allowances they are entitled to get each year.

Tax experts said many taxpayers are entitled to additional tax credits or reliefs that are not automatically applied during the year. This could include the home carer tax credit or year of marriage tax relief.

Workers who incur medical or certain dental expenses during the year will likely be entitled to a refund of 20 per cent of the cost.

According to Taxback.com chief executive Joanna Murphy, emergency tax is common among young workers, such as students or those starting their first employment.

In a Dáil reply, Mr Doherty was told by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe that Revenue pays out millions of euro to PAYE workers every year who have overpaid their taxes.

Mr Donohoe said, “To date, Revenue has refunded €430m to 620,000 taxpayers in respect of the 2021 tax year.

“In respect of tax year 2020, €440m has been refunded to 660,000 taxpayers, while just over €500m was refunded to 800,000 taxpayers in respect of 2019.”

Despite this, millions of euro are still owed to hundreds of thousands of PAYE taxpayers in overpaid income tax.

Revenue is currently writing to taxpayers who may have overpaid or underpaid tax in these years, inviting them to submit returns to finalise their tax position. In the past month, Revenue has reportedly written to more than 50,000 PAYE taxpayers.

Revenue said it makes preliminary end-of-year statements available to PAYE taxpayers through the myAccount service each year, setting out each taxpayer’s provisional tax position for that tax year, based on information available on Revenue records.

It said taxpayers who want to claim a refund for overpaid tax should complete an income tax return.

Mr Doherty particularly encouraged people to check and claim overpaid tax in midst of the cost-of-living crisis.

He said the amounts that could be claimed could go some way to meeting the increased costs of energy, motor fuel, mortgages and food.

Experts said almost every worker will be entitled to claim additional credits or relief and said the best way to do this is to file a tax return.

Source: Independent.ie

(Quotes via original reporting)