“No matter how off the wall your medical treatment, it’s worth checking out if it qualifies for tax relief,” the Sunday Independent advises. “Since 2009, you can claim back a fifth of the cost of certain medical expenses in tax relief. You can claim back up to 41% tax relief on medical expenses you ran up before 2009 – as long as those expenses don’t go back more than four years.”
But it is a whole lot harder if you don’t get a court order afterwards to formalise the end of the relationship.
“Until recently, unmarried couples who lived together in a property which they bought together faced major tax bills if they split up or if their partner passed away,” the Sunday Independent states. “If one of the partners decided to hold on to the property by buying out the other’s share, he or she usually had to pay stamp duty on the share bought out.
Anyone commuting to the North for most of the year to work can save a fortune on tax by claiming trans-border relief. This means they pay Irish income tax only on the income they earn in the Republic (they are, of course, subject to British tax on the income earned in the North but this is lower).
To qualify for the relief, a person must commute to the North for at least 13 weeks a year, and for every week they work in the North he or she must stay in the Republic for at least one day a week.
A Sunday Times reader asks personal finance expert Jill Kerby if he is liable for tax on dividends earned from shares in the UK, which have already been taxed there.
Ms Kerby advises that tax is liable here, as the share dividend is treated as income. Any UK tax already paid is not refundable.
“Because the UK tax is non-refundable, top-rate taxpayers need to pick and choose shares carefully, concentrating on those likely to generate capital gains rather than income,” Kerby advises.
Anyone planning to change their working arrangements after the birth of a child should recognise the likely tax implications, according to a report in The Sunday Business Post.
In a timely piece given the fast-approaching Budget and the end of the tax year for the self-employed and those with non-PAYE incomes, The Sunday Independent details some of the ways still open of minimising tax. When the Government says there will be no increase in income tax, does anyone really believe it? Well, like the angel dancing on the head of the proverbial pin, it may be literally true but in effect chances are everyone will be paying more tax next year, whether in the form of levies, changes to reliefs or revised tax bands.
Is nothing sacred? Not judging by the Revenue’s decision to fine a mass card seller for failing to lodge income tax returns.
The Sunday Times delves into the story of David Hughes, a religious card wholesaler from Co Longford, who was fined €750 and appeared on the latest Revenue list of tax defaulters. His company makes pre-signed mass cards for sale in shops around the midlands.
Exotic islands, sandy beaches … and little or no tax – what’s not to love about tax havens? Well, in some cases, quite a lot, according to a piece in the Irish Business Traveller magazine section of The Sunday Business Post.
Self-assessed taxpayers should be aware not only of the impending pay and file deadline but of the likelihood of a bigger bill this year courtesy of the USC (Universal Social Charge) and increased income levy.
Revenue has warned the government that tax exiles would renounce Irish citizenship by handing back their passports rather than pay the €200,000 levy on the super-rich unveiled in last December’s budget.
Taxpayers will have to wait even longer than they thought to recoup any money spent to prop up the Irish banking system because banks will be allowed to offset billions in losses against their future tax bills, The Sunday Business Post reports.
Surprise, surprise – it looks like the Universal Social Charge (USC) is here to stay despite its widespread unpopularity and a government promise to “review” it in its Programme for Government.
The state should forget about putting additional taxes on smokers as a way of raising more money, according to a new report from the Revenue.