Irish Taxation Institute: Educating, Developing and Representing

Claiming your tax entitlements as a PAYE taxpayer

1. Do you know your Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)? This is your unique tax identification number, which appears on all personal correspondence from Revenue. If you don’t know your PPSN, go to http://www.welfare.ie/ and you will find details of how to get it under “P” in their A-Z index. Your PPSN is usually 7 numbers followed by a letter, e.g. 1234567A.
   
   
2. Once you have your PPSN, do you know where your local tax office is? If not, look up the Revenue pages of the State Directory in the regional phonebooks and call the number for where you live or go to www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/cont_main.htm, Revenue’s online “contact locator” and key in your PPSN to find where your local tax office is.
   
   
3. Have you signed up for Revenue’s online self-service PAYE system at www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/wnew/newpayess.htm and Revenue’s Online Service “ROS” at http://www.ros.ie/PublisherServlet/home? These systems can help you get your money.
   
   
4. Do you know what tax credits you are already getting? At the beginning of every calendar tax year PAYE taxpayers receive a “Certificate of Tax Credits and Standard Rate Cut-Off Point”. This sounds more complicated than it actually is! In summary, this one-page statement tells you the tax credits you are currently receiving and the income level at which you start paying tax at 41% (marginal rate) instead of 20% (standard rate). As well as the annual figures, this certificate tells you the credits and cut-off point on a weekly and monthly basis. It is a good idea to review this certificate every year and consider if you are claiming all that you are entitled to.
   
   
5. Are you entitled to tax relief for medical expenses? If in doubt, contact your local tax office. You can claim through your tax office, by completing a Form Med 1 (www.revenue.ie/forms/med1.pdf), using Revenue’s PAYE self-service online system (as above), or by filing a tax return Form 12 (www.revenue.ie/forms/form12.pdf ).
   
   
6. Are you renting your private accommodation? You may be entitled to rent relief. You can claim rent relief by sending a Form Rent 1 (www.revenue.ie/forms/rent1.pdf) or tax return Form 12 (as above) to your local tax office. The credit will be automatically granted the following year.
   
   
7. Are you claiming tax relief on your bin charges? Full details of the tax relief you can claim on bin charges and how to claim are to be found on www.revenue.ie/leaflets/it27.pdf.
   
   
8. Do you have a pension? If so, you could be entitled to tax relief on the contributions you make. This is quite a complex area of tax, but more information can be obtained from the Pensions Board at www.pensionsboard.ie/index.asp and from Revenue at http://www.revenue.ie/ . The amount of tax relief you are entitled to usually depends on your age.
   
   
9. Do you have children? If so, you could be entitled to childcare benefits and tax relief, which can accumulate to as much as €8,000. See the Irish Taxation Institute’s Tax Guides for more information.
   
   
10. Might you be entitled to the blind person’s tax credit? This credit of €1,830 for single persons and €3,660 for married (both spouses blind) can be claimed through your local tax office and will be automatically granted in subsequent years.
    
    

Please click here to view the Revenue Guide to Coming to Live in Ireland.

Please click here to view ITI Tax Guides.