Personal Finance

Barry McCall gives an insight into tax credits and St. Patrick’s Credit Union highlight holiday loans available.

Awide range of different tax credits varying from reliefs for bin charges to medical expenses are available to PAYE taxpayers yet many of them remain unclaimed. Indeed, the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service recently reported that as much as €500 million worth of these allowances may go unclaimed each year.

One of the reasons identified by the committee by this unusually high level of generosity to the State on behalf of taxpayers is the difficulty in claiming these allowances. Well, the good news for PAYE taxpayers is that since last summer they can avail of a range of services over the internet from the Revenue Online Service.

No more filling in tax returns or contacting the tax office to sort out your tax and get that tax back that you know you are entitled to. Now PAYE taxpayers can sort their problems out quickly and easily over the internet from the comfort of their own home, or indeed from anywhere else where they have internet access.

This is thanks to the launch a range of self service options over the internet for employees, the PAYE Self Services, where you can claim the credits you are entitled to, claim a review for last year, claim Health Expenses, check on progress of correspondence you have sent Revenue, or just look up your current tax credits.

There are two options open to users of the new service, a full internet service and a limited internet service.

The full internet service is clearly the best option and it allows taxpayers to view their personal tax record and to add, amend or delete from a suite of 34 different PAYE transactions. It also allows for the allocation of credits between jobs or spouses, updating of personal information, requests for reviews including medical expenses, a view of all tax credits, the updating of personal information such as changes of address, and gives a record of all correspondence between the individual and the Revenue Commissioners.

To avail of this service you will need to register with reachservices.ie, the Government service set up to provide secure and confidential access to public services over the internet. For security reasons it takes a little time to get fully registered with reachservices to use this service initially. This is a once off registration that will be worth it in the long run, particularly if you want to be able to claim reviews and tax credits or keep a good eye on your tax affairs in future.

When you have fully registered with reachservices all you need is your Revenue PIN to use the full internet service.

To avail of the limited internet service you need only your Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) and your Revenue PIN. You login to this service on the ROS site (www.ros.ie). This gives you a simple but quite limited version of the PAYE On-Line service which will allow you to claim a small number of tax credits, notify Revenue of a change of address, and track the progress of written correspondence with Revenue.

The eight separate tax credits you can claim using this limited service are the Refuse Charge Credit, the Home Carers Credit, Trade Union Subscriptions Credit, Age Credit, Rent on Private Accommodation, Flat Rate Expenses, Medical Insurance Relief and Dependant Relative Credit.

The great beauty of the new service is its speed and ease of use. The system takes you through the process and it takes just a few minutes. After that you get the credit or refund within days, no waiting on post or writing letters or filling out forms. It is fast, easy and very efficient for the taxpayer.

To register or find out more about these new services log on to www.revenue.ie. It’s a very easy way to make sure you are not paying too much tax.

St. Patricks Credit Union - Holiday Loans

With an interest rate of just 6.5% p.a. St. Patrick’s Credit Union should be your first port of call for a loan to pay for your Summer holiday, with a typical payment of only €20 per week or €87 per month on a loan of €1,000 over 12 months.

So you don’t have to use any of your SSIA funds to go on that dream foreign holiday or well deserved city break.

Remember that your current loan balance does not have to be cleared before you can apply for a top-up loan; and you are not restricted to borrowing three times your shares - loan applications are decided primarily on the member’s ability to repay.

St. Patrick’s Credit Union can also look after your foreign currency needs through Thomas Cook on a no-commission basis. Members can avail of this service by completing a Foreign Money Order form and sending it to the Credit Union with a Share Withdrawal form or Loan Application form (all forms available on the website www.stpatrickscu.ie)

The Foreign Currency can either be collected at the Credit Union office or posted to the member’s home address by registered post – usually within two days of the Credit Union receiving the completed forms.

Our Dublin based members can also deal directly with Thomas Cook by calling into the Thomas Cook office (bottom of Grafton Street, opposite Trinity College); and by showing their ESB ID card they will not be charged commission.

Please contact Valerie or Kathleen on 01-6325100 if you have any questions.