USC has being refunded, I dont know why!

wli

Hi,

Sorry for stating another thread on USC.
Today I was refunded USC for this year, but I dont know why.
I earn over the 10,036 cut off limit, I do not pay maintenance to anyone.
The women in my finacne dept. said maybe I was entitled to a medical card and that was why, she couldnt tell me.
I do not have a medical card though.

I looked throught the citizens information but cannot find a reason.
I am delighted with the refund, but dont want them asking for it back down the road, as it looks like I will not be paying it going forward also.

Did this happen to anyone, any advise?

namenotavailablE

In 2012, the USC is calculated on a 'cumulative basis'. This is the same method as is used to calculate your PAYE. A refund can arise if your pay fluctuated during the year (e.g. you had a period of zero pay).
It's possible that you had overpaid the USC in total earlier on in the year and are now getting a bit back due to the period where you had no pay and the USC thresholds were unused.

wli

Thanks namenotavailabl,

The thing is I have being working for the past 2.5 years, without any break in pay.
Also I got the whole amount I paid this year back.
So I have paid zero USC this year, and will be paying zero from now on.

Their has to be a mistake somewhere?

testicle

Ask your Payroll ?

wli

Payroll informed me about it, She said she did something of an update on the system, it said I was to be refunded.
She didnt know why, came to me for answers!
My circumstances havnt changed, how would they have to change to get a refund like this?

Shane732

wli wrote: »

Payroll informed me about it, She said she did something of an update on the system, it said I was to be refunded.
She didnt know why, came to me for answers!
My circumstances havnt changed, how would they have to change to get a refund like this?

Sounds like whatever system your payroll dept are using wasn't calculating the USC properly and now they've corrected it - hence the USC refund.

wli

I guess their is a mistake somewhere, I got the whole amount I paid in USC this year back. If I was being overcharged I would have got a percentage back but not the whole amount.

I don't want to run the risk of having to pay it back down the line, on top of penalties, and of course it looks like I won't be paying for the rest of the year.

namenotavailablE

I have to admit that it sounds odd- apart from the 'below €10036' income threshold, it's difficult to think of any reason why a Nil liability to USC might arise on employment earnings.

All payments received from the Department of Social Protection (Community Employment earnings, illness benefit or maternity benefit, for example) are exempt. As you state that you have not had a break in service for 2.5 years receipt of illness/maternity don't seem to be the reason but maybe you're on a CE scheme? Equally, if you receive money via payroll for reimbursement of genuine travel expenses then the USC is not charged on such reimbursements. Perhaps your payroll office was charging them to USC and are now refunding you?

As per others above, you need to discuss the reasons with your payroll office and -if necessary- ask them to contact your payroll software supplier for extra information.

dbran

Hi

The revenue do not put people on "USC exempt" unless you ring up and tell them that you will definately be earning less then the exemption limit. They dont do it out of the blue.

So if you haven't done this or your circumstances have not changed and you are actually still earning over the €10,036 it would appear the payroll may be calculating your USC incorrectly. Payroll is not rocket science so for the person in the payroll department to say that they dont know why all of the USC was refunded to you is very strange.

Get onto revenue, ask to get a copy of your latest tax credit cert. Check to see if it is being properly applied to your own wages. If not make sure that it is corrected.

Hope this helps

dbran

Fermatslast

Hi, I know one particular payroll system had been calculating USC incorrectly and they have issued an update. This could be the cause of your problem.

A lot of payroll depts are changing payroll suppliers as a result.

wli

I was just talking to the lady in payroll. She said she was told by Revenue that I was now exempt from USC. She does a download from the Revenue to update our internal system showing exemptions. She even opened the file up to show me, it was showing I was exempt from USC,(just an Excel file).

dbran wrote: »

Hi

The revenue do not put people on "USC exempt" unless you ring up and tell them that you will definately be earning less then the exemption limit. They dont do it out of the blue.

Its looks like they have done this out of the blue.

The only thing to do now is call into the Revenue and see what they have to say.