Taxpayers too afraid to claim a refund over fears they owe the Revenue money

Along with a fear of owing back taxes, 29% of respondents said the biggest reason for not submitting a claim was the fact that people simply didn’t think they’d be entitled to anything..

Almost half of all taxpayers are too afraid to claim for a refund they might be owed for fear they could face a tax liability from the Revenue.

This was one of the primary findings of a new survey which found that two-thirds of taxpayers in Ireland do not claim the tax reliefs and refunds they are owed on a yearly basis.

More than 3,200 taxpayers took part in the survey with 29% of respondents saying the biggest reason for not submitting a claim was the fact that people simply didn’t think they’d be entitled to anything. A further 20% said they thought the process would be too complicated or time-consuming.

However, almost half (48%) of respondents to the Taxback.com Taxpayer Sentiment Survey said they fear that by submitting a claim they might discover that in fact, they owe Revenue money, rather than the other way round.

“Not enough people claim their tax back – this is something we know already but is supported by the results of this survey," Marian Ryan, Consumer Tax Manager at Taxback.com said.

"Many people say they don’t think they’re owed anything – but we need to dispel this assumption. If you pay for a GP visit just once in the year, you will be owed a tax refund. So, it’s really a case that people simply aren’t aware of their entitlements."

"It’s also concerning to see that so many people would be worried that by submitting a claim, they may alert Revenue to a tax bill that they unknowingly have. We work with thousands of taxpayers every year, and the instances of this happening are minute. And if there is ever a case where the person ends up owing money, this is usually offset by the refund they are due.”

There is a range of tax reliefs that many members of the public are unaware that they can claim for. It’s often the case that people can avail of refunds on transactions or services that they would never expect. These can range from more common tax expenses such as medical and doctors’ fees, or tuition fees to flat-rate expenses, relief on IVF treatments, the Home Carer Tax Credit and overpaid USC.

How to claim for a tax refund

A number of companies and third parties such as Taxback.com offer tax rebate services where they will make a claim on your behalf.

However, the most straightforward way to make a claim for a refund is using PAYE Services in myAccount, which you can register for on www.revenue.ie.

You will likely have to wait for a pin number through the post but in some cases, you can be up and running immediately.

The myAccount service on the Revenue website lets you see your tax history and details of your tax credits.

You can also review your tax details for the previous four years.

For each year you can make sure you have claimed for the correct tax credits. Many people may not know they can claim credits for a range of expenses such as medical bills, non-routine dental services, IVF services.

Flat-rate expenses can also be claimed. These are reliefs intended to cover costs associated with work such as tools and uniform.

A full list of all flat rate expenses that can be claimed can be found here:

Flat Rate Expenses List

Once you are happy that you have claimed what you are entitled to, you can request a Statement of Liability for each year that will tell you if you have made an underpayment or overpayment of tax for a certain year.

Revenue has a series of videos explaining the process.

If you have overpaid tax, Revenue will refund you the overpayment by bank transfer if you provided your account details in ‘My Profile’ within myAccount or the refund can be issued by cheque through the post.

If you have an underpayment of taxes, you can arrange to fully or partially repay the tax due through the payments/repayments facility in myAccount, or Revenue will collect the underpayment by reducing your tax credits over the following four years, starting in January 2022. You will not have to pay interest on any underpayment.