Got married at the end of 2015 but only notified Revenue last month.

chalkitdown1

I recently notified them of the change in my marital status and they sent me an amended tax certificate with the relevant tax credits (€3,300) included for 2018 onwards.

Is there any way for me to claim the €3,300 that I missed out on in 2016 and 2017 or is it gone for good? It says personal tax credits cannot be carried over to another year but it also says you can claim back as far as four years so I'm a little confused by this.

relax carry on

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

I recently notified them of the change in my marital status and they sent me an amended tax certificate with the relevant tax credits (€3,300) included for 2018 onwards.

Is there any way for me to claim the €3,300 that I missed out on in 2016 and 2017 or is it gone for good? It says personal tax credits cannot be carried over to another year but it also says you can claim back as far as four years so I'm a little confused by this.

Contact them via my enquiries and ask them to carry out a year of marriage review for 2015 ensure you and your spouse are jointly assessed from 2015 onwards. You can review 2016 and 2017 yourself once your record is updated to jointly assessed.

chalkitdown1

relax carry on wrote: »

Contact them via my enquiries and ask them to carry out a year of marriage review for 2015 ensure you and your spouse are jointly assessed from 2015 onwards. You can review 2016 and 2017 yourself once your record is updated to jointly assessed.

I already received an end of year statement for 2016. (The wife doesn't have her P60 yet for 2017 so we haven't done anything for that year yet).

On sheet one it says €1527.26 will be added to my bank account, which is the tax deduction, but it doesn't say anything about the tax credits shown on page 2. This is what it shows on page 2 of the statement



Also, when I got in touch with them about changing my marital status I asked them for separate assessment. I'm guessing by your comment that was the wrong decision?

Ninthlife

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

I already received an end of year statement for 2016. (The wife doesn't have her P60 yet for 2017 so we haven't done anything for that year yet).

On sheet one it says €1527.26 will be added to my bank account, which is the tax deduction, but it doesn't say anything about the tax credits shown on page 2. This is what it shows on page 2 of the statement



Also, when I got in touch with them about changing my marital status I asked them for separate assessment. I'm guessing by your comment that was the wrong decision?

Based on both your incomes you should request joint assessment.

As your wife does not require her personal tax credit it transferred to you and as a result youve been refunded all tax paid. Your wifes PAYE credit has been apportioned to cover the amount of tax owing on her income.

Your credits of 4950 will cover yearly income of 24,750 tax free. Your wife has a yearly allocation of 1650 tax credits covering her for income up to 8250 tax free.

relax carry on

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

I already received an end of year statement for 2016. (The wife doesn't have her P60 yet for 2017 so we haven't done anything for that year yet).

On sheet one it says €1527.26 will be added to my bank account, which is the tax deduction, but it doesn't say anything about the tax credits shown on page 2. This is what it shows on page 2 of the statement



Also, when I got in touch with them about changing my marital status I asked them for separate assessment. I'm guessing by your comment that was the wrong decision?

Tax credits aren't money. They are part of how your tax is calculated. The refund amount is the maximum you could have gotten back as you can only be refunded up to the tax you paid.

Separate assessment will give you the same result as joint assessment but you have to keep requesting end of year reviews to get it. If you opt for joint assessment then you are able to take advantage of your spouse's unused rate band and credits throughout the tax year rather than waiting until the year is finished.

chalkitdown1

Thanks for the replies. I'm new to this stuff so it's all so confusing to me. :pac: If I'm understanding it correctly, tax credits cover how much tax I paid throughout the year and because the credits are more than the tax I paid, I am getting that tax back? Is that how it works?

relax carry on

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I'm new to this stuff so it's all so confusing to me. :pac: If I'm understanding it correctly, tax credits cover how much tax I paid throughout the year and because the credits are more than the tax I paid, I am getting that tax back? Is that how it works?

Can't sleep so here goes.

The PAYE system is made up of two elements, standard rate cut off points and tax credits.

You are allocated a certain amount on srcop for a tax year. In 2017 it was 33,800 euro. That meant anything up to 33800 was taxed at 20%. Anything above that was at the higher rate of 40%.

The second element of the PAYE system is tax credits. Say for example your pay for the year was 25000, all of that is taxed at 20% as it's all under the 33800 cut off. 20% of 25000 is 5000. Your tax credits of 3300 come off the 5000 you were due to pay leaving you only 1700 tax to pay on your 25000 for the year.

Your refund is coming from the fact you've been able to use some of your spouse's unused tax credits to reduce the tax you should have paid to zero.

A bit of reading will help as well as everyone in the PAYE system should know how it works.

https://www.revenue.ie/en/jobs-and-pensions/calculating-your-income-tax/index.aspx

chalkitdown1

Really appreciate the explanation, I have a better understanding of it now.

Although I have gone cross-eyed as well.