Red Oak Tax Refunds Blog

Latest News on Income Tax, Tax Refunds and money matters in Ireland

income levy refunds

Posted on | February 2, 2010 | 2 Comments

People start thinking about Income Levy Refunds!

2009 saw the Income Levy introduced and most people will not have thought about checking for Income Levy refunds.  especially as this is new, mistakes will have been made by employers out there, so it’s really important to get the levy calculations double-checked.

Here are Eight reasons why you might be due an Income Levy refund:TopTaxTips

  1. If you held a Medical Card at any stage in 2009, then you are due a refund of any Income Levy paid.  This means that even Income Levy amounts paid during the parts of the year when you did not have the medical card are available for refunds.
  2. If you are over 65 and your gross income for the year is below €20,000 for a single person and €40,000 for a married, you can claim a refund of an Income levies paid.
  3. Income Levy is charged on the pay received each pay period and not on the year to date amounts (like Income Tax).  No refunds of Income levy are made during the year. At the end of the year, if you were with the same employer all year, they should have calculated your Income Levy due on your annual pay and refunded any extra amounts paid.  As this is the first year Income Levy is in place, it’s important to check this happened!
  4. If you changed employer during the year, then your employer at the end of the year does not check for Income Levy refunds.  Each employer you had in the year should have given you an Income Levy Certificate.  Definately get these checked for overpayments!
  5. Where you worked part of the year earning over €289 a week, but earned less than €15,028 in the whole year, then you will be due an Income levy refund.
  6. If you received a redundancy payment and paid Income Levy, this is refundable – just check that the payment was deemed a ‘redundancy’ payment.
  7. If your pay is ‘lumpy’ due to payment of commission or bonuses irregularly, your income levy rate may have varied during the year – you could be due a refund of this.
  8. Certain Incomes are exempt from Income levy, such as  rent-a-room income and child benefit (see the full list below)

There are a lot of people who will fit into one of the categories above.  We will check your Income levy as part of an Income Tax Refund Claim – you just need to include the Income Levy certificates received in the year.  We can also check for PRSI and Health Levy Refunds.

Now the really small print – those exempt incomes.  some odd bits and pieces in there!

Interest on savings certificates
Exemption from BIK – Travel Pass, new bicycle scheme
Distributions to certain non-residents
Payments in respect of personal injuries
Special trust for permanently incapacitated
Haemophilia Trust
Hepatitis C
Thalidomide
Exemption in respect of certain payment under employment law
Foster Care Payment
Income from Scholarships
Child benefit
Early Childcare Supplement
Exemption in respect of certain expense payments
Expenses of members of Judiciary
State Employees: Foreign Service Allowance
Employee of certain agencies: foreign service allowances
Bonus or interest paid under instalment savings schemes
Certain interest not to be chargeable
Interest on certain securities
Certain foreign pensions
Basic and increased exemptions in respect of tax under section 123 (Redundancy) including SCSB
Relief for agreed pay restructuring
Payments in respect of Redundancy
Military & other pensions, gratuities and allowances
Veterans of war of independence
Rent a Room relief
Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge
Childcare service relief
Shares appropriated under Approved Profit Sharing Schemes
Shares under Savings Related Share Option Schemes (SAYE)
Shares under Approved Share Option Schemes
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10 things you should know about your 2009 P60

Posted on | January 18, 2010 | No Comments

P60 2009

P60 2009

Welcome to 2010, your post will now start to bristle with all that 2009 summary post. Here, we’ll go through the main document you will receive around now and what it’s for.

2009 P60

Probably the most important and most talked about bit of post you will receive this time of year is your P60. Here are 8 things you should know about your P60:

  1. Your P60 is your summary of your Pay and Income Tax for that year.
  2. It will have all your pay from your current employer, but will also show the pay and tax from previous jobs if you gave a copy of your P60 to your current employer.
  3. Details of PRSI paid (including Health levy) by you and the employer is on the left hand side.
  4. In the PRSI section, they also include number of weeks contribution – this is very important from a social welfare point of view as it can affect your entitlements
  5. It does not show the Income Levy you have paid.  For this you should get a separate Income Levy Certificate from your employer.
  6. Your P60 is prepared and given to you by your employer.  They will also declare it to the Revenue Commissioners, but you should still make sure you hold on to your copy!
  7. If you are not working at the end of the year, you will not receive a P60 ( no employer), but the P45 you received from your last employer holds the same information.  The main difference between a P60 and a P45 is that a P60 is given by the employer you are with at the end of the year, while a P45 is given by an employer you left during the year.
  8. P60’s are also issued by pension funds for the income you receive from a non state pension.
  9. The amount of Tax credits and tax bands given to you is shown at the top.  Can you figure out what’s included here?  It should agree to the latest tax credits cert you received in that year.
  10. The amount of Tax Credits used is given to your employer by Revenue.  This does not mean it’s correct and it is often out of date – we will of course check this for you.  If this is wrong, then you are likely due a refund!
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Claiming Tax Back – What’s New

Posted on | January 12, 2010 | 3 Comments

Click here to claim tax refunds





If you are looking to claim a tax back for 2009, the picture has changed somewhat from previous years.  Some of the changes will mean you are due less of a tax refund, other changes have increased the amount of of tax back that can be reclaimed.
These are these main changes:

More Refunds

You are still allowed tax refunds for items like Rent Relief, Employment expenses, Trade Union subscriptions, Bin charges, as a stay at home parent and medical insurance, but additional refunds are likely for:

  • Income Levy: If your pay varied during the year due to bonuses or times when you weren’t working you could be due a refund of income levy paid. Make sure you have an income levy certificate for each job and we can check this for you as part of a refund application.
  • Health Levy: The Health Levy was double in 2009, so double the refund potential to €1,040.  send us all your P60 and P45’s for the year with the refund application and we can check these.

Less Refunds

The cost of medicines was a big issue in 2009 and we have been hit with an increase in the minimum charge in the Drugs Payment Scheme and new prescription charges for medical card holders.  Your Tax refund potential for medical expenses has also been hit, with the maximum amount you can get back reduced from 41% to 20%.

Apply now

Why not get your Income Tax, PRSI, Health Levy and Income Levy checked for tax refunds in one easy step.  You can download our application form now, call us on 01-4428829 or contact us for more information.

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CGT Payment Deadlines

Posted on | January 5, 2010 | No Comments

If you made a Capital Gain in 2009, you should be aware that the payment deadlines changed in 2009.
For gains made between 1st January 2009 and 30th November 2009, the “Initial Period”, CGT payments should have been made by the 15th December 2009.
While for gains made between 1st December 2009 and 31st December 2009, the “Later Period”, CGT payments should be made by the 31st January.

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Budget 2010 – Drug Payment Scheme

Posted on | December 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

health levy pay cutThe cost of using the Drugs Payment Scheme has increased once again in this budget, though it has been little publicised to date.  The Maximum monthly spend on prescriptions you will have to pay for yourself has increased from €100 to €120.

Over a year, this will add an additional €240 to the cost of your medicines per our Budget Calculator.  Check this out for yourself.

Medical Card holders were also hit in this budget, with the introduction of a charge on prescriptions of €0.50 per prescription.

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Welcome to the Red Oak Tax Refund Blog, where we will discuss money matters, tax and in particular tax refunds relating to PAYE employment in Ireland. If you have any topics you would like discussed, send us a mail to refunds@redoaktaxrefunds.ie and happy reading!.

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