Millions of euros of tax refunds go unclaimed every year because people don’t realise that they are available or don’t think that they are entitled to them. Or a very common reason might just be that people think that they are too difficult to claim.

In fact, Revenue recently issued a press release encouraging PAYE workers to claim tax back on expenses such as health costs, nursing home fees and tuition costs. In October 2015, Revenue wrote to more than 137,000 PAYE workers who had not applied for any tax refund in the previous four years.

It is quite straightforward to claim tax back and most of the work can be done online through the My Account service on revenue.ie. Some reliefs need to be claimed through a tax return. This article focuses on PAYE employees, so I have only included reliefs that don’t need to be filed through a tax return.

Medical Expenses

One relief that is commonly overlooked is tax relief on certain day to day medical expenses. Relief can be claimed for 20% of what you spend. Relief is also available if you pay medical expenses for someone else and you don’t have to be related to the person whose expenses you might be paying.

Expenses qualifying for the relief include doctors’ visits, consultants’ fees, prescription medicine, physiotherapy, and routine maternity care. Some expenses incurred abroad, including certain travel costs can also qualify for the relief. You can only claim relief on unreimbursed expenses so if you receive money back from your health insurer, you can’t claim tax relief on the amount you were reimbursed. You can make a claim through My Account by providing the amount spent on medical expenses. Receipts don’t need to be submitted when making the claim. But receipts should be keptbecause you may be asked for them at a future stage to back up your claim.

Dental Expenses

Tax relief is also available for the cost of some dental treatments. Only non-routine treatments qualify for relief; for example crowns, veneers and orthodontics. Routine check-ups and fillings unfortunately don’t qualify.

Just like medical expenses, the tax relief is by way of a tax credit equal to 20% of the amount you pay which you can’t claim elsewhere. Therefore, if you have paid €1,000 to have a crown fitted this year you could claim relief of €200 from Revenue.

Flat Rate Expenses

Revenue can grant flat rate expenses for employees working in certain jobs. Nurses, optometrists, panel beaters, grooms, musicians, journalists and air crew, among others, can claim fixed expenses (for example their uniforms or equipment) provided certain conditions are met. The easiest way to check if you are eligible is to go onto the Revenue website at revenue.ie and search for “List of Flat-Rate Schedule E Expenses”. There is no need to keep receipts to claim this relief.

Tax Saver Commute

This is a popular relief and one that anyone who commutes by public transport should investigate. Employees can receive a monthly or annual travel pass for use on the bus, train, Luas and DART from their employer without a charge to tax. You can do a deal with your employer to swap some of your salary in exchange for the travel pass without creating a tax problem.

Cycle to Work

You might have noticed a surge in cyclists on the roads in the past few years. This is perhaps linked to the tax relief that is available for the cost of a bicycle to use for cycling to work. The good news is that any accessories such as helmets, lights and other safety equipment also qualify for relief. Like the Tax Saver Commute scheme you can swap some of your salary over a year in exchange for your employer buying the bike and associated equipment on your behalf.

The maximum cost qualifying for relief is €1,000. So if your employer purchases a bicycle, helmet and lights for a total of €1,000 on your behalf, the cost to you will be €490 if you pay tax at the higher rate. Depending on the way your employer operates the scheme, you generally need to provide evidence of the bike purchase and the tax relief is then operated through payroll over the period of your choice. So keep your receipts!

Relief is granted through payroll for both the Tax Saver Commute and Cycle to Work so you don’t need to claim anything through Revenue.

Pensions

In an era where we are constantly reminded that we need to fund our retirement, it is a nice surprise to hear that pensions remain one of the most tax efficient investments you can make. Premiums paid by an employee to a Revenue-approved pension scheme, or by a self-employed person under a Retirement Annuity Contract (RAC) are allowed as an income tax deduction in the calculation of an individual’s income tax liability and gives relief at the top rate of income tax. There are caps on the amount you can claim relief on but for the average employee these are very generous. Relief is granted via payroll once your employer has details of your private pension fund.

College Fees

Are you doing a course or funding someone going to third level? You may be able to claim tax relief at 20% for tuition fees paid for in respect of third level colleges, as long as the fees are fully paid and don’t exceed €7,000 per annum. The relief applies to tuition only – it does not cover administration, examination or registration fees. Relief isn’t available if part of the tuition is funded by a grant, scholarship or employer. If fees are paid in instalments, tax relief can still be claimed once paid.

Revenue publishes a list of colleges and courses eligible for this relief on their website at www.revenue.ie. To claim the relief you need to complete a form and submit this with your P60 to Revenue.

Relief from DIRT for First Time Buyers

DIRT is a tax on deposit interest payments and is charged at 41% and applies to most people in the country. However, if you are a first time buyer and live in the house or apartment that you bought, you can claim a refund of the DIRT paid on the savings used to buy the property. The relief only applies to savings accrued in the four years prior to the purchase and also only applies to savings up to 20% of the purchase price. The relief is expected to run out at the end of 2017. To make a claim the property must be registered for Local Property Tax (LPT). You log into the LPT system to make the claim.

Not all of these tax reliefs will apply to you. And there are other reliefs like rent a room relief that I haven’t detailed.

If you haven’t incurred any of the above expenses, you might consider reviewing whether you are due any tax back on the tax paid through your employment by requesting a P21 balancing statement from Revenue. A P21 balancing statement is an end of year review of your tax liability which gives details of total income, tax credits and PAYE paid during a tax year. It may highlight that you have overpaid or (be aware) underpaid tax for the year and also allows you to assess the amount of that you might be due back if you claim some reliefs. All you need is your P60 for the tax year you want to make a claim.

My advice to you is to get claiming and seek professional advice if you are not sure about your claims!

Cróna Brady is a Tax Manager with Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Email: crona.brady@charteredaccountants.ie