Home carer tax credit query?

jockey#1

I have a question regarding the home carers tax credit. We got married in early 2018 so joint assessment only takes affect from 2019 however my wife did not work at all last year, we have 2 kids.

I am wondering if any of you knowledgeable folk know whether we can claim for this credit in 2018? We didnt utilise the increased standard rate cut off as i only worked for 7 months.

Thanks

Stratvs

You're initially taxed as single people in year of marriage 2018.
You can then have 2018 reviewed on the basis that you were married using joint assessment.
If the tax payable jointly is less than that paid singly then you can get a refund of the difference, restricted by reference to the portion of the year that you were married. So if married for 10/12 of 2018 you'd get 10/12 of the amount.
Links :-
Tax after marriage
Home Carer Credit
So any credits that you'd be entitled to jointly go into the joint review ( that would include the HC Credit if relevant ).
Entitlement to the HC Credit might not automatically show on a review on Revenue's side so would want to be mentioned / claimed when requesting the review. ( claim form at end of second link )

jockey#1

Thanks for the reply. I have already requested a review and that is almost finalised just waiting for the refund. I presume there would be no issue completing the home carer application form for 2018 now, sending that in and requesting a further review?

Stratvs

You’ll get a P21 balancing statement. If there are any additional credits due but not showing on that it can be amended again. ( subject to the 4 year rule )

jockey#1

Stratvs wrote: »

You’ll get a P21 balancing statement. If there are any additional credits due but not showing on that it can be amended again. ( subject to the 4 year rule )

Thanks for your advice the last time. So i applied for the home credit for 2018. Fast forward to today. I called them to follow up and they advised that i would not be entitled to it as you need to be jointly assessed. I tried explaining to them that that was not the case but i was speaking with a robot. They suggested logging a further query if i want.

Do you have any further advice? I kind of got my hopes up about booking a nice family holiday with the money!

Stratvs

Ok so the updated guide on HCC is here :-

https://www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-15/15-01-29.pdf

It does clearly state that one of the conditions is that you are married and jointly assessed.

In the year of marriage (YOM) you are singly assessed. You only become jointly assessed in the following year ( if you've chosen to be taxed as such).

But where it's unclear to me is that Revenue's guide on YOM reviews says :-

"You may qualify for a refund. You qualify if you pay more tax for the year, as two single people, than you would if you had been jointly assessed. If you are due a refund, it will only be given from the date of marriage or registration of civil partnership."

https://www.revenue.ie/en/life-events-and-personal-circumstances/marital-status/marriage-and-civil-partnerships/taxation-after-year-of-marriage-or-registration-of-civil-partnership.aspx

So I would have expected that the review on the basis of "if you had been jointly assessed" would include any items which would normally apply if you had been jointly assessed, such as HCC etc. Is it their position that actually being jointly assessed in the YOM (which you couldn't be as that's not permitted) overrides the YOM review which would be on the basis of "if you had been jointly assessed" ?

It may be worth while putting in a MyEnquiry request or letter to the relevant district outlining the position and asking for a definitive answer.