Tax refund on braces - under refunded?

compsys

I hope this is the correct form to post this topic and that someone can advise me.

I got non-routine dental work carried out in 2011 (braces) at a cost of €4,250. In early 2012 I applied for tax credits or a tax refund in respect of the dental work for the 2011 tax year. In 2011 I paid around €2,300 in tax.

Anyway, I know that you only get relief at 20% on these expenses now so I figured that the refund would be 20% of €4,250 or €850. However, this morning I saw that only €612 had gone into my account. Is this a mistake or am I missing out on something here?

The only other tax credits I get are the PAYE and Income Tax Credits (which almost everyone gets anyway) and the rent tax credit which isn't much.

I'm guessing that you can't receive a tax refund that's bigger than the amount of tax you actually paid during a year, but as I paid over €2,300 tax in 2011 (excluding PRSI and USC!) I was expecting the full €850 to be refunded to me.

Before I ring PAYE Anytime on Monday to query this does anyone have any thoughts on this?

relax carry on

compsys wrote: »

I hope this is the correct form to post this topic and that someone can advise me.

I got non-routine dental work carried out in 2011 (braces) at a cost of €4,250. In early 2012 I applied for tax credits or a tax refund in respect of the dental work for the 2011 tax year. In 2011 I paid around €2,300 in tax.

Anyway, I know that you only get relief at 20% on these expenses now so I figured that the refund would be 20% of €4,250 or €850. However, this morning I saw that only €612 had gone into my account. Is this a mistake or am I missing out on something here?

The only other tax credits I get are the PAYE and Income Tax Credits (which almost everyone gets anyway) and the rent tax credit which isn't much.

I'm guessing that you can't receive a tax refund that's bigger than the amount of tax you actually paid during a year, but as I paid over €2,300 tax in 2011 (excluding PRSI and USC!) I was expecting the full €850 to be refunded to me.

Before I ring PAYE Anytime on Monday to query this does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Am assuming you used the figures from your P60 to make the claim online. On your P60 is the box for 53 weeks ticked? If so then it may be that would account for the discrepancy. If it is then you need to email or ring the PAYE section to have them take the week 53 into account.

barneystinson

relax carry on wrote: »

Am assuming you used the figures from your P60 to make the claim online. On your P60 is the box for 53 weeks ticked? If so then it may be that would account for the discrepancy. If it is then you need to email or ring the PAYE section to have them take the week 53 into account.

Or another alternative is that the employer just didn't deduct enough tax thru the payroll, by clerical error or something...

compsys

barneystinson wrote: »

Or another alternative is that the employer just didn't deduct enough tax thru the payroll, by clerical error or something...

Well I work for a large multinational corporation so I'm hoping that wouldn't be the case!

relax carry on

compsys wrote: »

barneystinson wrote: »

Or another alternative is that the employer just didn't deduct enough tax thru the payroll, by clerical error or something...

Well I work for a large multinational corporation so I'm hoping that wouldn't be the case!

It can happen to any company, big or small. Even government departments. Getting rarer now though.
Best thing to do is to email the PAYE section asking them why the expected refund was smaller than expected.

cfarrell

Are you married? If so, it's possible that your wife got a refund of the balance.

bluefinger

i have a similar question regarding claiming backing health expenses. hope its ok to post here.


is prsi and/or usc considered tax for the purposes of claiming back tax? like op i recently completed my health return and received a refund way below what i expected. i think i may have under-declared my tax take on ros, as when asked to enter annual pay and tax (only put paye amount in here) . should i have added on usc or prsi or both?

relax carry on

bluefinger wrote: »

i have a similar question regarding claiming backing health expenses. hope its ok to post here.


is prsi and/or usc considered tax for the purposes of claiming back tax? like op i recently completed my health return and received a refund way below what i expected. i think i may have under-declared my tax take on ros, as when asked to enter annual pay and tax (only put paye amount in here) . should i have added on usc or prsi or both?

PRSI and the USC are not tax. The tax relief for health expenses relates to PAYE paid in the year you incurred the expense. When you input your pay and tax figure, did you take them from your P60 or your Payslip? If from your payslip, you may have entered the wrong figures.

bluefinger

relax carry on wrote: »

PRSI and the USC are not tax. The tax relief for health expenses relates to PAYE paid in the year you incurred the expense. When you input your pay and tax figure, did you take them from your P60 or your Payslip? If from your payslip, you may have entered the wrong figures.

thanks for the response. just got my p60 today and it is the same as what i'd declared from my final pay slip of last year. paid 5200 in paye, health expenses came to about 6000 so i expected a fifth of that to be rebated but only got about 500e

surprised that the usc does not count as tax.

relax carry on

bluefinger wrote: »

relax carry on wrote: »

PRSI and the USC are not tax. The tax relief for health expenses relates to PAYE paid in the year you incurred the expense. When you input your pay and tax figure, did you take them from your P60 or your Payslip? If from your payslip, you may have entered the wrong figures.

thanks for the response. just got my p60 today and it is the same as what i'd declared from my final pay slip of last year. paid 5200 in paye, health expenses came to about 6000 so i expected a fifth of that to be rebated but only got about 500e

surprised that the usc does not count as tax.

Check your P60. In the top right hand corner, is the box for week 53 ticked. If so then that may account for the lower than expected refund amount. If it is ticked, then send the P60 to revenue asking for a re-review based on a week 53 basis. Am assumin you are paid weekly. If its fortnightly then its week 27. If monthly its month 13.
Also check your P21 balancing statement to ensure you agree that you have been allocated your correct credits and there are no errors you can see.