Have the Revenue Commissioners gone mad???

Kashkai

This is for me at least, a very good news issue (at least I hope it is).

I arrived home from work yesterday to find a letter from the Revenue Commissioners. What the hell is that I wondered so I opened it up to find a cheque for €2,600 in lieu of an overpayment in tax for 2006 and 2007. I literally can't believe it as (a) I'm a PAYE taxpayer so tax deducted at source after allowance for tax credits etc, and (b) I never claimed a refund from the Revenue Commissioners.

Now on the one hand, I'm bloody delighted but pessimistic old me is wondering if they've made a mistake and will come a knocking looking for the money to be paid back. On the other hand, if I am entitled to the money, how is it that I overpaid tax and is this likely to occur again - how can I find this out to prevent it from happening.

Should I call the Revenue and find out if it is a mistake or just keep the head down and bank the money and if I hear no further word, then spend it?

pred racer

call them, they are very helpful. and if they did send it out in error (unlikely) then yes you will have to pay it back.

Gillo

It's unlikely to be a mistake but no harm in giving them a call to put your mind at ease.
Happened someone I know last year, he got a call from his HR department to tell him he had been overcharged, he got back over double what you did.

I suppose the moral of the story is at the end of each year actually check your P60.

Kashkai

When it comes to working out my taxes, I'm bloody useless. I've gone into the Revenue Commissioners offices before and while they were very helpful, I came out even more confused than when I went in. So is there an easy way to understand if you are paying the correct amount of tax. Like my original post stated, I'm on PAYE so my employer know my tax credits and thus I thought it would be a simple matter for them to deduct them from my gross pay and pay the tax out of the rest, i.e my taxable income. Still can't understand how I overpaid tax and why the Revenue picked this up and refunded me out of the blue. I wouldn't have thought I was on their radar - no offshore bank accounts, never been a politician etc:D

Gillo

I think they do so many random check's also.

It may be useful to post in the finance forums, asking someone to clearly explain how to work out your tax. I'd offer but to be honest I find it a bit tricky so I'd be afraid of giving the wrong information.

antoinolachtnai

Your employer might have miscalculated your tax. Happens all the time, but usually it is adjusted for by the end of the year.

sunnysoutheast

Go to:

http://www.taxcalc.eu/

this should be accurate enough to check your last couple of years.

If it is a real refund then good luck to you, and you can congratulate yourself on giving the government an interest-free loan. If it isn't they'll ask for it back and remove it from your tax credits if you don't pay!

SSE

nava

Hi

I do the medical tax, bin tax, etc every year and always got money back but over the last 2 years I also got a letter each year to say that I owe money to them, 1st was about €200 and 2nd was €50 but on each letter also said that they will no be collecting at that point.

1st time we did it we also got around the same a OP back.

Regards

sam34

its worth ringing them every january and asking them for a balancing statement for the previous year, as mistakes can happen in payroll depts.

miju

if you got that from last year alone I would contact your local tax office and ask for a P21 balancing statement for the last 6 years.

You'll prob be in for a massive winfall (even after my 20% )

tbh

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

When it comes to working out my taxes, I'm bloody useless. I've gone into the Revenue Commissioners offices before and while they were very helpful, I came out even more confused than when I went in. So is there an easy way to understand if you are paying the correct amount of tax. Like my original post stated, I'm on PAYE so my employer know my tax credits and thus I thought it would be a simple matter for them to deduct them from my gross pay and pay the tax out of the rest, i.e my taxable income. Still can't understand how I overpaid tax and why the Revenue picked this up and refunded me out of the blue. I wouldn't have thought I was on their radar - no offshore bank accounts, never been a politician etc:D

thing is tho, when you ring them, they'll either know why they sent it out, or they'll have no record of it going out, in which case you'll have to return it. It's not like they are going to say "ok, if you can give us a good reason, you can keep it"

One thing I'd say tho that if it IS the former, just jot down the name of the person you are talking to. I've had three occasions to deal with the revenue in my life, each occasion involved at least three calls/visits, and on each visit involved a different story. You pay capital gains on it/you pay paye on it / you owe us nothing. So just have some backup in the unlikely event they do want to speak to you about it later. "Mary O'Shea told me I could keep it, take it up with her".

stauntj

Consider yourself fortunate. I got a P21 two days ago saying I underpaid by 2,488 Euro. This was on the basis of a joint assesment with my wife. How on earth can they contact me in August asking me to settle last years tax, I thought everything was in order and now I have to pay? Anyway around this besides deducting for bins,medical rent etc.

tbh

I honestly don't mean to sound like I'm being a b0llox here - you have my sympathy and I understand why you are annoyed - but when you say "I thought everything was ok" - does that mean you assumed everything was ok, or you checked into it at the time and were told everything was ok? If it's the former, then I'm afraid it's a lesson learned. If the latter, you may have some comeback with whoever told you it was ok.

jimmycrackcorm

I get a balancing statement done every year and have gotten money back each year. The first year netted me multiples of the ops cheque because of a mistake made with my PAYE allowance.

Kashkai

I received another letter from Revenue yesterday and I thought "here we go, they want the money back" but no, it was a p21 (never heard of it before) stating that I had overpaid tax for 2005 by 10c which would be recouped to me in next year's tax credits - cant wait:D:D.

Now if my taxes were screwed up for the past 3 years (to my benefit thank Jebus unlike another poster), then how many other times was I overpaying tax. This could apply to thousands of others who like me presume that everything is in order each week when the net pay is put into the bank account following the "correct deductions". If Revenue had not sent me out this cheque, I'd never had known that I was over €2,500 out of pocket.

Now should I pursue them for the lost interest????:rolleyes:

calex71

lucky b@£%ard :mad:

sam34

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Now should I pursue them for the lost interest????:rolleyes:

let us know how that goes for you

steo87

I was gonna say "don't push your luck"...but ya know what? why the hell not! Give it a try!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

revenue commissioners are so good, its not even funny

sent them an email asking for my excess taxes back for last year in January. They replied two days later saying that they had put the money in my bank account.

you really have to see the tax systems in other countries to realise how amazing this is.

for example, in the UK you have to fill in a 6-page form to claim back your taxes.

remember reading a story a few years ago about our tax authority being the poster boy for other countries around the world.

4Xcut

Haven't read any of the replies, so apologies if this is repetition.

As far as I am aware, the Rev. Com. can come to you looking for money owed to them due to their mistake and ask for it back, without a specific time limit on it.

A friend of mine was overpaid tax by a few hundred euro a while ago and decided not to say anything. However, he knew that worst case scenario, he could play dumb and just hand the few hundred back. He spent it and they never got around to asking for it back. Even if they do now, its only a few hundred.

In you case, with the amount being what it is, I would give them a shout and see what the story is. Better safe than sorry.

craichoe

Roundtower2 wrote: »

revenue commissioners are so good, its not even funny

sent them an email asking for my excess taxes back for last year in January. They replied two days later saying that they had put the money in my bank account.

you really have to see the tax systems in other countries to realise how amazing this is.

for example, in the UK you have to fill in a 6-page form to claim back your taxes.

remember reading a story a few years ago about our tax authority being the poster boy for other countries around the world.

+1 on this, the Irish Tax service is a MILLION miles ahead of anything else in Europe.

The Belastingdienst in Holland found a couple hundred million euros lying around that they hadn't accounted for.

Even getting into the fecking place is a disaster, sometimes you need an appointment even if theres 30 people sitting there at vacant desks, other times your don't ...

The Revenue is far more helpful and efficient

tbh

4Xcut wrote: »

Haven't read any of the replies, so apologies if this is repetition.

did you read the op? they owe him money.

IMPEGA

the easiest way to make sure that you have paid the correct amount of tax is to check your P60 from the previous year. Your employed should give this to you sometime between mid jan and end of feb. Check for the following info and use the follwoing steps

Find your Gross Taxable Income. This is your gross pay less and pension contributions and any other pre tax deductions ( eg Travel Pass Tickets etc)

An example:

Gross Taxable Income €36000

Standard Rate Cut of Point for Single person is €35400

So 35400 X 20% = 7080
600 X 41% - 246

Gross Tax Liability = 7326

From this we take away your annual Tax Credits. At a min a single person should have tax credits of €3660 (but can be increased by claiming refuse charges and Union subscriptions and rent relief)

So 7326 - 3660 = 3666

So for a persom earning €35400 they should be paying tax in and around of €3666 per year ( depending on Tax Credits n cut off point)

Hope this is not too confusing, if anyone wants any help drop me a private mail and will try and help ye out

MOH

craichoe wrote: »

+1 on this, the Irish Tax service is a MILLION miles ahead of anything else in Europe.

The Belastingdienst in Holland found a couple hundred million euros lying around that they hadn't accounted for.

Even getting into the fecking place is a disaster, sometimes you need an appointment even if theres 30 people sitting there at vacant desks, other times your don't ...

The Revenue is far more helpful and efficient

Really? I found the Belastingdienst incredibly easy to deal with, and far more efficient than any dealings I've had with the Irish revenue.

sunnysoutheast

IMPEGA wrote: »

the easiest way to make sure that you have paid the correct amount of tax is to check your P60 from the previous year. Your employed should give this to you sometime between mid jan and end of feb. Check for the following info and use the follwoing steps

Find your Gross Taxable Income. This is your gross pay less and pension contributions and any other pre tax deductions ( eg Travel Pass Tickets etc)

An example:

Gross Taxable Income €36000

Standard Rate Cut of Point for Single person is €35400

So 35400 X 20% = 7080
600 X 41% - 246

Gross Tax Liability = 7326

From this we take away your annual Tax Credits. At a min a single person should have tax credits of €3660 (but can be increased by claiming refuse charges and Union subscriptions and rent relief)

So 7326 - 3660 = 3666

So for a persom earning €35400 they should be paying tax in and around of €3666 per year ( depending on Tax Credits n cut off point)

Hope this is not too confusing, if anyone wants any help drop me a private mail and will try and help ye out

Or you could use a site like www.taxcalc.eu, no point having a dog and barking yourself. You can put married status, bin charges, medical etc. in it.

SSE

4Xcut

tbh wrote: »

did you read the op? they owe him money.

The way i read it was that they sent him a cheque which he was not expecting. i have read it again and it still reads to me that they sent him money he wasn't expecting.

Kashkai

Just to clear up any confusion, out of the blue I arrived home and there was a brown envelope from the Revenue Commissioners which when I opened it was a cheque for €2,600 with no explanation. The next day, I received 3 P21's (I hadn't heard of them before) from the Revenue that stated that I had overpaid tax in the previous 3 years due to a fcuk up by my employers which I never copped cause like most people, I presumed I was paying the correct amount of tax (a mistake I won't make again mind).

The whole mystery was cleared up when my wife arrived back home after a week long visit to her folks in Mayo. She had rang the revenue a few days before she left to check on her tax affairs as she was down a bit in net pay. I believe that the Revenue also must have looked into my taxes (we are jointly assessed) to see if I was claiming some of her credits and thus they found that I had overpaid tax which they refunded to me within 5 days of her phone call to them. Thats damn good service from them imo.

ps the wife was annoyed that even though she was down in pay, and she made the call to the revenue, I was the one who got the refund:D:D:D:D:D

craichoe

MOH wrote: »

Really? I found the Belastingdienst incredibly easy to deal with, and far more efficient than any dealings I've had with the Irish revenue.

Nah ,their Brutal, its fine if you managed to get a BSN number but alot of Expats i know have been 6 months without one because of crazy rules and in some cases because their file was "lost"

brettmirl

I've gotten money back from Revenue too this week.

Got 3 x P21s for 04, 05, 06. They made a mistake on my tax relief for a pension...so happy times for me.

Have to say I've always found Revenue great to deal with.

I heard a report on the radio a few months ago...apparently they are the most effecient section of all the government bodies. Pretty sure the reporter was saying (and I am paraphrasing here) that the amount of tax payers in Ireland has almost doubled in the last ten years, yet there are the same ammout of employees in Revenue dealing with it all.

Claire121

I must be the only one who has found the Revenue incredibly incompetent, but maybe I was just unlucky. I ended up on emergency tax for over 6 months, with them promising to sort it out, promising it would be sorted by next month etc, and it never was. I ended up having to claim it back the following year. Ended up having to borrow money from my folks to pay the rent, it was a nightmare. That was their call centre though. When I went in to claim the refund, the staff there were more helpful.

MOH

craichoe wrote: »

Nah ,their Brutal, its fine if you managed to get a BSN number but alot of Expats i know have been 6 months without one because of crazy rules and in some cases because their file was "lost"

I'd worked in a glasshouse for a month in college, cash in hand, didn't even know I was registered for tax.
Went back 7 years later working properly, walked in to the main Belastingdienst office in Amsterdam, queued for ten minutes and the woman who saw me asked why I was there with a form, I already had a tax number, dug up all my details and I was out 2 minutes later.

Back on topic, must get onto the revenue, I'm due tax back for a few years ag.
Isn't there a cut-off for how far back you can cliam? 4 Years or something?