Big surge in young people claiming tax refunds
Between 2009 and 2011 those aged between 20 to 29 made up 65% of claims on www.taxback.com, with the company predicting €27 million worth of refunds this year.
Although the company processes claims from those who spend time abroad, a company spokesperson said the tax most people are claiming back is tax relief on items such as medical expenses and rent.
In response to the interest from young people, taxback.com has launched an iPhone app which it said could result in more than €27m in refunds.
It is expected the app will see an increase of 20% in people in the 20-29 age group claiming tax back this year.
Marketing manager with taxback.com, Aoife Twohig, said: “We developed this app in response to huge demand from our customers in the 20-30 age bracket — the largest demographic to currently engage in smartphone technology.
“However, as research has suggested, the smartphone market is set to explode in 2011 and could reach 1.5 million users, many of whom will be in their 30s, 40s and older. We firmly believe our app will be a key resource for these new users also.”
Since Christmas taxback.com has seen a 400% increase in traffic to its website from mobile web users. The new app will also allow users to calculate the amount of tax owed to them and also to track their claim once it has been submitted.
People aged between 30 to 39 made up 27% of claims between 2009 and 2011 while people over 40 made up only 8% of claims in that period.
Taxback.com said the app will also entice older smartphone users to get what they’re owed by making the process “less laborious and more time efficient”.
“We’re really excited about this new development — it is yet another way of communicating to the masses the tax rebates that are available to them,” said Ms Twohig.
More than one fifth of adults in Ireland or 600,000 people now own a smartphone and the market is expected to grow to 1.5m by the spring of 2011.
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