Thousands of PAYE workers in Ireland are unaware of a tax credit that could be worth over €2,000 to them.
If you have yet to file your tax return, this is a tax return you may want to know about depending on your job.
Each year, PAYE workers fail to claim Flat Rate Expenses (FRE) which are based solely on a worker's job description and can be claimed as a deduction from your income.
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Irish money expert Darren who posts under the username @investwithdarren shared a video on TikTok about how to claim the handy tax allowance.
Darren explained: "It is that time of year to do your tax returns there is a couple of things you might not know you can claim."
He went on to list professions like bricklayers, electricians, doctors, nurses, and teachers who can claim Flat Rate Expenses.
What exactly are Flat Rate Expenses?
Fate-rate expenses cover the cost of equipment that an employee needs for work such as tools, uniforms, and stationery.
Flat-rate expenses are available to a wide range of professions, and 500,000 people claimed the benefit last year with hundreds of thousands thought to be missing out.
Doctors, engineers, plumbers, civil service workers, journalists, waiters, teachers, and members of the carpentry and joinery trades are also entitled to deductions. However, it's important to be aware that the flat rate expense deduction isn't automatic.
So you have to get in contact with Revenue and ask about the FRE allowance. And once you confirm that you're employed in an area that qualifies for the deductions, you can claim expenses back for the last four years.
How much can you claim on the flat rate expenses allowance?
In a post, Darren explained: "You can see an electrician can claim €153 as a flat rate expense every single year and a bricklayer can claim €175.
"Taking a look at the hotel industry then, you can see a waiter or a waitress can claim €80 as a flat rate expense each year.
"Moving on to nurses, there are a couple of different scenarios here but likely, what most fall under is supplying their own and laundering their own uniforms - they can claim €733 each year.
"Another popular one is teachers, they can claim €518 if you’re a full-time teacher as a flat rate expense," added Darren.
How do I claim flat-rate expenses?
Flat-rate expenses can be claimed by completing an Income Tax return. You can find this form in PAYE Services in myAccount. You can do this by following these steps:
- sign into myAccount
- click on ‘Review your tax’ link in PAYE Services
- select the Income Tax return for the relevant tax year
- in the ‘Tax Credits & Reliefs’ page select ‘Flat rate expenses’ and add it as a tax credit.
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