Millions of euro go unclaimed every year by the Irish public primarily due to an apathetic outlook or lack of awareness of entitlements. They are losing out hugely when compared with their more proactive citizens who are claiming back an average of €550 in tax entitlements, according to tax specialist www.taxback.com which has just released the results of its TaxBack index which takes a look over the last half decade to see who has been chasing the Revenue for what he/she is owed.
It found that in 2010 alone, 53.3 per cent of claimants were men, though the proportion of women is increasing every year. Engineers emerged as the shrewdest profession, being the most likely to get their money back.
“We would hope that people in Mayo who see the results might think to themselves, I’ve never claimed my tax back so I could be due a bit of a windfall,” said Annette Twohig of Taxback.com “Also because we have just reached 2011 this now means that people can begin claiming for their 2010 tax rebate.”
Highlights from the index show:
• While men have always made up more of the customer base than women during the Celtic Tiger boom (2006 ) women showed significantly and somewhat shamefully less interest in claiming what was owed and only accounted for 38.6 per cent compared with 61.4 per cent.
• Co Clare tops the poll of those who claim their tax back and others in the top 10 counties include Dublin South, Galway, Kildare, and Wexford.
• Rent is the single biggest and most common relief people claim for, with a somewhat surprising second being service charges.
“The net result of December’s Budget will leave people short several thousand in their annual take-home pay,” Ms Twohig added. “This is a significant amount at any time but unfortunately the effects of the cuts will be amplified because many people throughout the country are already feeling some financial strain.
“In light of this we are urging people to ensure that are claiming all the reliefs they are entitled to such as medical expenses, rent relief, tuition fees, home carer’s credit, etc. Many of these reliefs can still be claimed up to four years after the tax year in which they were paid so we are advising that people look back over the last four years and assess and claim any tax rebates they are due. It’s probably worth quite a few euro.”
