Registration fees for second child in 3rd level

MacSwifty

Hi,

I had a quick look and could not find anything so .....

I have two kids in third level this year one in 4th year and one starting

I have recieved the registration for the first €2000.00 and the other one should arrive this week (after close of CAO first round) My questions are: -
Is it €1500 for the second child?

and

How will the college know i have paid for the first child

Thanks

Annasopra

MacSwifty wrote: »

Hi,

I had a quick look and could not find anything so .....

I have two kids in third level this year one in 4th year and one starting

I have recieved the registration for the first €2000.00 and the other one should arrive this week (after close of CAO first round) My questions are: -
Is it €1500 for the second child?

and

How will the college know i have paid for the first child

Thanks

From what I can work out you pay both and then get refunded the difference of €400 as a tax rebate

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it31.html

MacSwifty

mango salsa wrote: »

From what I can work out you pay both and then get refunded the difference of €400 as a tax rebate

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it31.html

Ah Thanks Mango

rosiechecking

MacSwifty wrote: »

Is it €1500 for the second child?

Looks like it depends on which institution they are attending.

Nuig are charging €1500 for the second and subsequent student http://www.nuigalway.ie/fees/June_2011/non_tuition1.html
UCD are charging €2000 for each studenthttp://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/studentcontribution2011.html
You can claim tax relief on the student contribution, but the first €2000 is disregarded. So tax relief may be claimed on the student contribution for the second and subsequent student, up to a max of €7000.

Annasopra

I'm not so sure about that NUIG page

All information that I can find elsewhere suggests the NUIG page information is wrong - I wonder exactly how that would work anyway - If you had a child going to UCD and one going to NUIG - Would NUIG need to contact UCD to verify that before deciding whether to charge 2000 or 1500?

http://colmrapple.com/?m=201101

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/contributioncharge.html

http://www.tcd.ie/Treasurers_Office/fees/fees_studentcharge.php

http://www.niallcollinstd.ie/2011/08/16/collins-urges-parents-to-avail-of-tax-relief-on-college-costs/

http://www.westmeathcitizensinformation.ie/student-charges

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2011/06/15/00014.asp

http://www.npcpp.ie/fileadmin/files/Newsletters/NEWSLETTER_8_2011_.pdf

http://www.inishowennews.com/011CitizensAns10.htm

rosiechecking

mango salsa wrote: »

All information that I can find elsewhere suggests the NUIG page information is wrong

It never occurred to me that the info there might be incorrect, until you pointed it out.

DIT also had the same information on their site "If more than one person in a family is in college, only one person will have to pay the full €2,000 while all other family members pay €1,500". http://www.dit.ie/study/mature/support/finance/grants/

Thanks for the clarification. Any reduction for 2nd and subsequent students is now available only through tax relief.

Annasopra

rosiechecking wrote: »

It never occurred to me that the info there might be incorrect, until you pointed it out.

DIT also had the same information on their site "If more than one person in a family is in college, only one person will have to pay the full €2,000 while all other family members pay €1,500". http://www.dit.ie/study/mature/support/finance/grants/

Thanks for the clarification. Any reduction for 2nd and subsequent students is now available only through tax relief.

I'm not 100% certain that the NUIG page is wrong but I think it is. I think the confusion has arisen because the previous government announced reduced charges of €1500 and then this was changed in the finance bill

MacSwifty

Thanks for the info People I just paid the damn things

WIT permitted a €1000.00 now and €1000.00 before Jan 30th 2012

Which made it a bit easier!

Once again thanks

MacS

Pembily

How is 1500 = 1600 though?? If you pay 2000 for the second child and reclaim then you only 1600?!?!?!? Why did they say you had to pay 1500 for the second and subsequent child when you don't, you have to pay 2000 and reclaim it?

Are any SU doing anything on this?

Annasopra

Pembily wrote: »

How is 1500 = 1600 though?? If you pay 2000 for the second child and reclaim then you only 1600?!?!?!? Why did they say you had to pay 1500 for the second and subsequent child when you don't, you have to pay 2000 and reclaim it?

Are any SU doing anything on this?

The FF/Green government announced that it would be 1500 but not how this would work in practice

The FG/Labour government knew that that it would be an administrative nightmare for colleges - One college would have to get proof from another college that a students sibling is registered there - that system would cause all sorts of hassle for fees offices - The simpler way to do it is through tax relief and that is why they did it that way

XxMCRxBabyxX

Hey,

If the two siblings are in the same college will they give the reduction automatically?
Just I only seem to need to pay 1500 and my brother is starting in the same college as me next week! Would they have reduced mine because of him or is it more likely that I have a reduction because I am on a work placement year?

AnCatDubh

Has anyone successfully applied or even been given confirmation that this relief exists?

I've been in contact with the revenue office who had heard of it but knew nothing about it - they had been told nothing as to it workings or what it applied to. The nice lady recommended talking to the Citizens Information office.

I rang the Citizens Information office and again a very helpful and pleasant individual said that 'they' announced it but didn't bring it in. Just to be clear this is in relation to what is formally known as the Student Contribution (aka, Registration Fee) - the 2,000 euro and what appears to be a commonly held opinion that there is tax relief available for 2nd and subsequent children paying such contribution in respect of third level college attendance.

There appears to be a lot of confusion between tuition fees (which the normal post leaving cert student won't be concerned with) which does attract tax relief and the student contributions (registration fees) which appear not to attract tax relief.

So, i'm just wondering if anyone can give pointers as to having received tax relief or even confirmation that it does actually exist from revenue?

Thanks.

XxMCRxBabyxX

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Has anyone successfully applied or even been given confirmation that this relief exists?

I've been in contact with the revenue office who had heard of it but knew nothing about it - they had been told nothing as to it workings or what it applied to. The nice lady recommended talking to the Citizens Information office.

I rang the Citizens Information office and again a very helpful and pleasant individual said that 'they' announced it but didn't bring it in. Just to be clear this is in relation to what is formally known as the Student Contribution (aka, Registration Fee) - the 2,000 euro and what appears to be a commonly held opinion that there is tax relief available for 2nd and subsequent children paying such contribution in respect of third level college attendance.

There appears to be a lot of confusion between tuition fees (which the normal post leaving cert student won't be concerned with) which does attract tax relief and the student contributions (registration fees) which appear not to attract tax relief.

So, i'm just wondering if anyone can give pointers as to having received tax relief or even confirmation that it does actually exist from revenue?

Thanks.

I can't link as I'm on my phone but there is defo info about this on the revenue website explaining how the relief works and how much you get. I found it just through google

Annasopra

mango salsa wrote: »

From what I can work out you pay both and then get refunded the difference of €400 as a tax rebate

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it31.html

That link to the revenue site should explain it in detail

AnCatDubh

Thanks folks.

Having been told previously by the Revenue office (and citizens information) on the phone that there wasn't such a relief available but with the encouragement given here we pursued it further and yes, it appears that the Revenue people are in the process of updating their forms. As referred to on this thread you can claim this tax relief on the IT31 form. They've asked for multiple forms to be filled out and submitted - this apparently until new forms updated which will be about 5 weeks time.

So if you have two or more students paying registration fees (now known as student contribution) you should definitely pursue it.

Thanks again.

wildrover50

We have 2 student registration fees to pay this year..one for DCU the other DIT
Both colleges insisted on €2,000 reg. fees upfront which was paid (no choice)

According to last budget the second student in same family should only pay €1500 registration fee..but both colleges are insisting we claim back
this allowance or difference via revenue by filling out an IT31 form or
on the self-assessment form next year.
What I would like to know is:
Is this allowance for the second student treated as a tax refund/rebate
...which amounts to €500?
or
Is this allowance given as tax relief on €4000(2x fees combined) less
the first €2000...which amounts to 20% of €2000 i.e €400

AnCatDubh

wildrover50 wrote: »

We have 2 student registration fees to pay this year..one for DCU the other DIT
Both colleges insisted on €2,000 reg. fees upfront which was paid (no choice)

According to last budget the second student in same family should only pay €1500 registration fee..but both colleges are insisting we claim back
this allowance or difference via revenue by filling out an IT31 form or
on the self-assessment form next year.
What I would like to know is:
Is this allowance for the second student treated as a tax refund/rebate
...which amounts to €500?
or
Is this allowance given as tax relief on €4000(2x fees combined) less
the first €2000...which amounts to 20% of €2000 i.e €400

The example given on IT31 is for parent/three students and works out as follows;

Student Contribution €6,000
Tax Relief €800 [€6,000 - €2,000)@ 20%]

so in your case i'm guessing it to be [4,000 - 2,000] @ 20% = €400

From what I gather the only way to avail of the relief is to apply for it as you've been told as individual colleges have no way at the moment of knowing what is or isn't paid elsewhere.

I understand that the revenue will issue you a cheque on receipt of your claim.

At the moment, apparently you fill out and send off two forms - one for each college student - this, until they update their forms but was the case last week and they were taking about 5 weeks before forms would be updated.

wildrover50

So does this mean the allowance for the second student is treated more as a refund(which can be claimed in this year) as opposed to a tax relief allowance to be claimed back next year alongside other things like medical bills,bin charges etc?

Annasopra

wildrover50 wrote: »

So does this mean the allowance for the second student is treated more as a refund(which can be claimed in this year) as opposed to a tax relief allowance to be claimed back next year alongside other things like medical bills,bin charges etc?

Yes you can claim it straightway. I know when I claimed for tuition fees before it was refunded through my wages but an chat dubh is probably right that they will give you a cheque

AnCatDubh

wildrover50 wrote: »

So does this mean the allowance for the second student is treated more as a refund(which can be claimed in this year) as opposed to a tax relief allowance to be claimed back next year alongside other things like medical bills,bin charges etc?

mango salsa wrote: »

Yes you can claim it straightway. I know when I claimed for tuition fees before it was refunded through my wages but an chat dubh is probably right that they will give you a cheque

Yes, According to the individual in the tax office which we spoke to, they will issue you with a cheque in respect of the refund due. We haven't received anything as yet so I can't confirm.

AnCatDubh

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Yes, According to the individual in the tax office which we spoke to, they will issue you with a cheque in respect of the refund due. We haven't received anything as yet so I can't confirm.

Still waiting - tum de tum de... (appears to be causing great consternation with the good folk of the revenue office, and combined with a postal no show on a letter from them to me means its a good job we aren't going hungry while waiting )

Anyhow, the story is now because we've claimed this allowance prior to end of tax year, the revenue people are adjusting the tax credits with the appropriate amount and issuing me/my employer with a new certificate of tax credits so next pay cheque will have a 46 (48?) week adjustment and the balance paid in proportion until the end of year.

Apparently, if we had left it until January next to claim, then they would have issued a cheque directly to me in respect of it .

The long and short of it appears to be that its not terribly well known within the revenue commissioners or indeed how they are supposed to process it (or in our experience what exactly is eligible for claiming) but if you are paying for student contributions (previously registration fee) for more than one third level student, you are entitled to claim for it so do stick with it.

BTW - for the record, the revenue commissioners staff have all been very helpful and pleasant (if a little uninformed at times)