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20th November 2018
03:29pm GMT
This is what we like to hear just before Christmas.
Money is going to be tight with all the present buying and unnecessary nights out so it's nice to know that we could be getting some money back.
In the wake of recent media coverage of Revenue’s review of the Flat Rate Expense (FRE) tax allowance and the cuts to reliefs available to many categories of workers, tax experts at Taxback.com are urging those who will be affected to move now to claim back reliefs for the previous 4 years.
The tax refund specialists say we are fast approaching the deadline to claim refunds from the 2014 tax year – which is Dec 31st.
Eileen Devereux, Commercial Director at Taxback.com explained the current position,
“The cuts to FREs will come as an unwelcome shock to many workers. But the message we want to get out there is that there is still time to claim.
"You can actually go back 4 years with your claims – so at the moment you could submit a claim for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. And come Jan 1st you will be able to submit a claim for your 2018 FREs."
“The money people are owed in refunds is not insignificant. For example, a shop assistant (for whom the relief will no longer apply after January 1) can claim refund of either 20% or 40% of €484 for the 4 year period 2014 – 2017, depending on what rate of tax you pay.
Meanwhile, for a journalist, the refund would be even greater – as much as 20% or 40% of €1,524”.
Taxback.com emphasise that flat rate expense allowances are available for various classes of employee.
Deductions are available to doctors, engineers, plumbers, journalists, teachers and hospitality sector workers, among other professions.
“This seems to be a tax relief that people may have heard of in passing, but most know very little about," she concluded.
FREs are a type of tax relief for PAYE workers in specific trades and professions and if you have a job in one of these areas, you can reduce the amount of tax you pay each year by the designated amount.
