Alison Moloney is a qualified tax consultant who was made redundant late 2008. However Alison turned her redundancy around and she may be able to save you some money as a result.
After receiving her redundancy Alison left Ireland and spent 7 months travelling. On returning from her trip in August she decided to set up her own tax consultancy business - with slight twist. This business is primarily aimed at PAYE employees rather than the traditional self employed individuals.
Through assisting friends and family on the PAYE tax system to maximise their tax credits and reliefs, Alison came to realise how much PAYE tax the ordinary, everyday employee was overpaying, and how little they knew about claiming back any refunds they were entitled to.
Hence ReduceYourTax.ie was born and best of all if the client doesn't receive a refund Alison won't charge a fee.
Alison has shared her top five tips for saving money on your PAYE tax with Thrifty Pages...
1 - Knowledge is Power
Click in to the Personal Tax section of www.revenue.ie. There you will find a list of all the current personal tax credits. Just reading through the list might highlight something you may be able to claim, thereby reducing your tax bill. There is a lot of simple tax relief available which people are not aware of!
2 - Did you know you may be able to claim tax relief on the cost of an orthopaedic bed?
Tax relief is available on the cost of an orthopaedic bed if the bed is used on the advice of a G.P. or medical practitioner.
3 - Review your 4 years!
The Revenue Commissioners will issue refunds for the 4 tax years previous to the year your application is made. i.e. in 2010 refunds will be issued for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.
Even if you’re only claiming tax relief on ‘bin charges’ at €80 a year, that’s €320 straight in to your pocket! I know I’d rather it in my pocket than Brian Linehans!!
4 - PRSI relief on pension payments
Most people know tax relief is available on pension payments made directly to a pension provider. However did you know you can also claim PRSI relief on the pension payments? This can be 6% of the pension payments, and again you can claim it for the previous 4 years.
5 - Medical Expenses – What year do I claim?
You may be aware that up to 31/12/2008 tax relief was available on medical expenses at the higher tax rate of 41%, and from 1 January 2009 the tax relief has been capped at the standard rate of 20%. However did you know you can choose whether you want to claim the tax relief for the tax year in which the payments were made or for the tax year in which the expenses were incurred? This could save you a lot of money!
Example:
- Mary pays tax at the higher tax rate of 41%.
- Mary had a child in late 2008, but her hospital didn’t bill her until 2009. Cost €3,000.
- If tax relief claimed in respect of 2009 – tax refund = €600 (€3,000 * 20%)
- If tax relief claimed in respect of 2008 – tax refund = €1,230 (€3,000 * 41%)
- Claiming it in the year in which the expenses were incurred saved Mary €630!!
Give Alison a shout to save some money and remember there is no fee is your don't get a refund :)
