Ireland Tax Refund FAQs

Taxback.com are experts in Irish tax and we ensure you get back any overpaid income tax and expenses you're owed. The amount of your refund will depend on your earnings, your expenses and how long you worked for during the tax year.

The average tax refunds we get for our Irish tax clients are €840 for PAYE and €320 for PRSI.

Try our online Ireland tax refund calculator to find out for free how much you may be able to get back.

Yes, if you're self-employed, such as a construction subcontractor, you need to file an annual tax return called a self-assessment tax return.

On this tax return you need to declare all your earnings and any other income you received during the tax year. This information will be used to work out how much tax you have to pay.

The tax office will usually issue your self-assessment tax return to you each year when the tax year finishes. If you receive one you must fill it out even if you don't think you had self-assessable income.

You must file your tax return and pay your taxes by October 31st or you will face a surcharge and interest on any money owed.

NOTE: Even if you only worked for part of the year as self-employed, and were PAYE for the rest of the time, you will still need to file your tax return through a self-assessment tax return.

Yes, if you are self-employed you can claim back work-related expenses.

Expenses can significantly reduce your tax liability and are a vital part of your tax return. Many people forget to include this information and leave thousands of Euros worth of tax refunds unclaimed.

We can claim back money on many of your work-related expenses including:

• Work tools
• Protective clothing
• Buying machinery
• Repair and maintenance of work equipment

To claim back your expenses we'll need your receipts and records of your income and expenditure.

Taxback.com ensures you get your tax refund as quickly and securely as possible.

Once we receive all your documents it takes us just 1-3 working days to prepare your Irish tax return. This includes:

• Receiving and checking the documents
• Estimating your refund
• Completing your forms
• Sending them to the tax office

The tax office usually takes about 6-8 weeks to process income tax refund applications. For PRSI refunds, it can take up to six months to process. Our tax team in Ireland is in constant contact with the tax office to see how your application is progressing.

As soon as the tax office sends us your tax refund, we'll contact you with our range of secure payment options to organise the most convenient way to transfer the money to you.

The total estimated time for your Ireland tax rebate is 6-8 weeks.

We will provide you with a personal online TaxTracker ^® account through which you can follow the step by step progress of your application.

Taxback.com's simple tax return service makes it easy for you to claim your tax refund and expenses.

1. Register online and download our TaxPack for Irish tax returns. Sign the forms and send them to us.
2. We'll estimate your refund and prepare your tax return. We will organise replacements for any missing documents.
3. We file your tax return and as soon as we receive your refund we contact you to organise a transfer through our secure payments system.

First of all, our free online tax estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.

When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

For Irish PAYE tax refunds we charge 10% + handling fee of the refund received, subject to a minimum processing fee of €40 + handling fee.

For self-employed clients who need to file a tax return our fee for this service is a flat, upfront fee of €125 + handling fee plus €50 + handling fee for each supplementary schedule. If you are due a tax refund there is an additional fee of 10% of the received refund + handling fee.

If you require document retrieval services for your Irish tax refund, our fee for this is €15 + handling fee per document.

Why the minimum fee?

Our fee covers all the things that make filing your application with us so easy such as:

• Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
• Online tracking service in seven languages
• Free phone and free fax
• Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process
• Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
• Quality team

We provide you with your own personal secure TaxTracker ^® account so you can follow the step by step progress of your application online.

As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.

We also have our Live Chat support team available 24/7 on instant messenger to answer any questions you have.

If you're working in construction you will be either employed (PAYE) or self-employed – it depends on the terms and conditions of your work.

If you work for someone else it is important to know whether you are working for that person in an employed or self-employed capacity – such as a subcontractor in construction. If you are employing other people, it is your responsibility to correctly determine their employment status too.

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions, you are probably an employee/PAYE worker:

• Do you have a contract of employment between you and a company?
• Do you work in a specific role, for specific tasks, during specific hours and with a specific manager?
• Does your ‘employer' pay you weekly or monthly and deduct income tax from your earnings before they pay you?
• Are you entitled to/do you receive payslips?
• Do you have specific targets?
• Do you receive bonuses?
• Are you paid overtime for extra hours worked?

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions you are probably self-employed:

• Do you run your own business and take responsibility for its success or failure?
• Do you fulfill short-term contracts for specific periods of time or a specific body of work?
• Can you hire someone to do work for you or help you at your own expense?
• Do you risk your own money?
• Can you decide how, when and where you work?
• Do you provide the main items of equipment you need to do your job?
• Do you regularly work for a number of different people?
• Do you have a contract for services?
• Do you issue an invoice for your services to receive payment?

If you are employed under the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system in Ireland, this means that your tax and [faq_6192]PRSI[/faq_6192] will be deducted from your earnings by your employer and paid to Revenue. The rate at which you pay tax depends on how much you earn.

If you're self-employed, such as a subcontractor in construction, you are responsible for your own tax and PRSI. This means:

• You must register with your local Revenue Office as self-employed
• You must Pay and File your taxes through a self-assessment tax return each year and declare all your income
• You must pay tax on the profits you make during the tax year

RCT (Relevant Contracts Tax) is a tax system where the principal contractor deducts 35% tax from payments to subcontractors for whom they do not have a relevant payments card.

RCT applies to construction, forestry and meat processing operations and only when the principal contractor and subcontractor operate in the same industry.

If you are a subcontractor without a C2, you will receive an RCT Deduction Certificate, known as Form RCTDC, from your principal contractor when you get paid. You will need your RCTDCs from each of your employments during the tax year to claim a refund of this tax.

A C2 is a certificate of authorisation issued to you as a subcontractor by the tax office if you apply and qualify for one. The C2 is a personalised card with your photo and signature and it allows principal contractors to apply to the tax office for a payments card for you. This will mean the 35% RCT tax will not be deducted from your earnings and you will need to pay your taxes through a self-assessment tax return at the end of the tax year.

To be eligible for a C2 you must:

• Be a subcontractor working in the construction, forestry or meat processing industries
• Trade from a fixed place of business
• Have a satisfactory tax record for the last three years

If you're renting private accommodation in Ireland you may be eligible for rent relief. Relief is granted by way of a tax credit at the standard rate of income tax.

Taxback.com can claim your rent tax credits and to do so we'll need information such as:

• The tenancy dates and address
• The weekly/monthly amount of rent you were paying
• The name and address of your landlord

If you've paid qualifying health and dental expenses during the tax year, such as doctor's visits or laser eye surgery not completely covered by your VHI/Bupa/Vivas or insurance provider, taxback.com can claim tax relief on these expenses for you.

Examples of medical expenses:

• Costs of doctors' and consultants' fees
• Items and treatments prescribed by a doctor/consultant such as drugs and medicine, hearing aids, physiotherapy, wheelchairs, diagnostic procedures, orthopaedic treatments
• Hospital treatment
• Laser eye surgery
• Speech and language therapy
• Transport by ambulance
• Maternity care

Examples of dental treatments:

• Bridgework
• Crowns
• Veneers
• Root canal treatment
• Surgical extraction of wisdom teeth

To claim tax relief on all your expenses you must keep your receipts and document the total expense paid so that you can claim back all that you are entitled to.

If you pay charges on bin or water services you may be able to claim tax credits of up to €400. Qualifying services are those paid to local authorities for domestic water supply, refuse collection and sewage disposal. To be eligible you must have paid your charges on time and in full in the year you wish to claim for.

Taxback.com can claim your service charges back.

If you've paid subscription fees to a Trade Union you may be eligible for up to €70 of trade union subscription relief. To be eligible you must be a member of a qualifying trade union so make sure you know the name of the union and the amount you paid so we can get it back for you.