We’ve all heard those ads….you know the ones. The ones that shout their limited sale offer and finish with ‘but when they’re gone, they’re gone!’. Funnily enough, most of these offers are never actually ‘gone’ – but sadly, the same does not apply to unclaimed tax credits which expire after 4 years.
The recent budget gave a little extra back to PAYE workers for the coming tax year, but that doesn’t mean that you should forget about the austerity years when every budget saw increases in taxes and reductions in tax credits and reliefs.
In fact, it’s those very cut tax credits where you can still claim money back for tax years as far back as 2010 – however, the clock is ticking and soon any unclaimed tax credits for 2010 will be lost to the Government’s piggy bank. And personally, I think it’s better off in your pocket than the Government’s!
So, what reliefs could you be missing out on? Here are the top 3 tax reliefs and credits that you need to claim now in order to maximise your refund before they’re lost forever.
1. Trade Union Subscriptions
If you were a member of a trade union and paid a membership subscription, then you could claim a tax allowance in 2010 (this allowance was abolished from 2011). So, this is the last year you can claim a maximum credit worth €70.
Membership to trade unions such as ACCORD, Civil and Public Sector Union (CPSU), Irish National Teachers Union (INTO), Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), MANDATE, Unite the Union and many others all qualify for this tax credit.
2. Service Charges (Bin charges)
We all have bin charges of some description – whether you pay the likes of The City Bin Co., Greyhound, Ray Whelan, Greenstar or Wastepal to collect it for you or if you take your own waste to your local dump, such as Oxigen – you can still claim a tax credit worth up to €80 for the charges in 2009 and 2010 (these are claimed in the following tax years of 2010 and 2011 respectively).
3. Rent
The Rent Tax Credit used to provide significant refunds for PAYE workers who were renting, however the Government has been gradually phasing this out. However, for 2010, the tax credit available is still €400 for single people or €800 for married couples, which is not too shabby when you consider that this has been gradually reduced each year and is now sitting at €200 and €400 respectively for 2013.
The catch with the rent tax credit is that in order to claim, you need to have been renting on or before the 7th December 2010. Once you meet this criteria, you can claim the tax credit for each subsequent year you have been renting.
The Time to Claim is Now!
These tax credits could be worth up to €550 in one year for a single person if you are eligible.
The deadline to claim back tax for the 2010 tax year is 31st December this year, so there’s no time to wait.
To get a comprehensive review of you taxes from 2010-2013, apply now!
Post Written by Nerilie Watson
I’m the Marketing Manager at Red Oak Tax Refunds and although I’m no tax expert, I LOVE getting money back from taxman. My job is to translate all the complicated and confusing ‘tax speak’ that is bandied about our office into something that is understandable for all us ‘average Joe soaps’.