Ireland Tax Refund FAQs

For people new to Ireland...

Before you head off to sightsee in Dublin and sample the local Guinness, there are a few key facts about life in Ireland that you should know.

Once you start work you'll pay 20% income tax on earnings up to €35,400 and 41% on all earnings over that.

Taxback.com can claim back part, or all of what you paid when you leave Ireland or at the end of the tax year. Our customers get an average tax refund of €840 from Ireland.

Our tax experts ensure all our returns are 100% compliant with Irish tax law and get you the maximum legal refund possible.

Try our FREE tax refund calculator to see how much cash you could get back.

How can I set up an Irish bank account?

Banks in Ireland require proof of address, a letter of employment or a utility bill in your name in order for you to open an account with them. This can be very difficult if you've just arrived in the country and are still finding your feet.

Taxback.com is partnered with one of Ireland's biggest banks – Bank of Ireland – through our partner company Quickstart and can assist you in opening your account.

There is a fee of €30 for this service, and assistance with your PPS number is included. Apply online for your Irish bank account and PPS pack today.

What is a PPS number?

A Personal Public Service (PPS) number is the unique reference number issued to you by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. It enables you to work, pay taxes and access public services in Ireland.

Your PPS number is used as a reference number for the benefits and tax credits system and is used for making tax deductions from your earnings. Without a PPS number you will pay tax at the emergency tax rate of 42%.

How can I get my PPS number?

You need a PPS number to work and pay taxes in Ireland. Registering for a PPS number can be a time-consuming and complicated process – especially if you're new to Ireland and don't have a permanent address yet.

Taxback.com can assist you in getting your PPS number and Irish bank account fast through our partner company Quickstart. There is a fee of €30 for this service. Apply online today.

How do I know if I'm PAYE or self-employed?

Whether you are employed (PAYE) or self-employed depends on the terms and conditions of your work.

If you work for someone else in Ireland, it is important to know whether you are working for that person in an employed or self-employed capacity. If you are employing other people, it is your responsibility to correctly determine their employment status too.

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions, you are probably an employee/PAYE worker :

• Do you have to do the work yourself?
• Is someone in charge of you, who can tell you what work to do, where and when to carry it out or how to do it?
• Do you work a set amount of hours?
• Are you paid a regular amount by the hour, week or month?
• Are you entitled to/do you receive payslips?
• Do you have specific targets?
• Do you receive bonuses?
• Are you paid overtime for extra hours worked?

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions you are probably self-employed:

• Do you run your own business and take responsibility for its success or failure?
• Can you hire someone to do work for you or help you at your own expense?
• Do you risk your own money?
• Can you decide how, when and where you work?
• Do you provide the main items of equipment you need to do your job?
• Do you regularly work for a number of different people?

What is PAYE?

The Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system means that your tax and PRSI is deducted from your earnings by your employer and paid to Revenue. The rate at which tax is paid depends on how much you earn.

If you are PAYE in Ireland you may be owed a tax refund at the end of the tax year or when you leave the country so use our FREE Online Tax Refund Calculator to see how much cash you could get back.

For more information visit our PAYE Standard Worker in Ireland.

What is self-employed?

If you're self-employed in Ireland, you are responsible for your own tax and PRSI. This means:

• You must register with your local Revenue Office as self-employed
• You must Pay and File your taxes through a self-assessment tax return each year and declare all your income
• You must pay tax on the profits you make during the tax year

Can I claim back my tuition fees?

If you're studying in Ireland, you may be able to claim tax relief on your tuition fees. Tax relief is available for:

• Certain full-time and part-time undergraduate courses of at least 2 years duration. The relief applies to fees up to €5,000
• Certain training courses in the areas of information technology and foreign languages. The relief applies to fees ranging from €315 to €1,270
• Certain postgraduate courses

To qualify for tuition tax relief, your course must be an approved course at an approved college.

Taxback.com will be able to claim your tuition tax relief for you. Get a free refund estimation and find out if your course will qualify.

Can I get rent relief?

If you're renting private accommodation in Ireland you may be eligible for rent relief. Relief for single persons under 55 is €400 for 2008 and will be granted by way of a tax credit at the standard rate of income tax.

Taxback.com can claim your rent tax credits and to do so we'll need information such as:

• The tenancy dates and address
• The weekly/monthly amount of rent you were paying
• The name and address of your landlord

What is PRSI?

When you work in Ireland, your employer deducts Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) from your earnings. PRSI is made up of social insurance and health contributions. The social insurance part goes to social insurance funds to pay for social welfare and benefits in Ireland. The health contribution part goes to the Department of Health and Children to help fund health services in Ireland.

Even if you aren't due a PAYE refund, you may still be able to claim back some of the PRSI you paid. When we file for your Irish income tax return, we also apply for any PRSI you might be owed and make sure you get the maximum legal refund possible.

Can I get a PRSI refund?

You may be able to claim back some of the PRSI you paid at the end of the tax year in Ireland. Taxback.com customers get an average PRSI refund of €320.

You may be eligible for a PRSI refund if you:

• Worked in Ireland and made PRSI contributions
• You have a PPS number
• You earned under the salary ceiling for PRSI

What is a P45?

A P45 is the official tax form that you get from your employer when you finish working for them. It outlines your earnings and the amount of taxes that you paid for that employer. If you leave your job to start another one in Ireland, you'll need to give your P45 to your next employer so make sure you keep a copy for yourself. We'll need your P45 or your P60 to claim your Irish tax rebate.

If you misplace your P45 or you don't receive it, our document retrieval team can get replacements for you.

What is a P60?

A P60 is the tax certificate you receive from your employer in January after the tax year ends. It shows your earnings, tax paid and PRSI contributions deducted in that tax year.

We can use either your P60 or your P45 to claim your Irish tax refund. If you misplace your P60 or you never receive it, our document retrieval team can obtain one for you.

Oops - I lost my documents/Help - I never got my documents – what do I do?

We know it's easy to lose documents in the move back home or to not even receive them in the first place. That's why we have a dedicated document retrieval team who deal with employers all over the world and can organise replacement documents for you.

When can I get my tax back?

The Irish tax year is from January 1st to December 31st and you have up to four years to claim any overpaid tax back.

If you're working in Ireland in 2009: We can apply for your tax refund at the end of the tax year or mid-year if you leave the country permanently so download the Irish tax forms now and send them in once you leave work.

If you worked in Ireland between 2005 and 2008: We can apply for your Irish income tax refund now so let us get the process underway today.

PRSI refunds: We can apply for your 2009 PRSI refund at the end of the tax year or now as far back as 2003 so don't miss out – download your Irish tax forms now.

How much money will I get back?

Taxback.com will get you back as much overpaid Irish tax as is legally possible. That amount depends on factors like:

• Your earnings
• Your expenses
• How long you worked for

The average refunds we get for our Irish tax clients are €840 for PAYE and €320 for PRSI.

Try our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much cash you could get back.

What are the advantages of using taxback.com?

Thousands of people choose our service because:

• We get you the maximum legal refund
• FREE online refund estimations
• Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your tax return every step of the way
• All our Irish tax returns are legal and compliant with Ireland's tax laws.
• Document retrieval service
• 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
• Free phone, free fax, free online tax help with our live chat!
• No language barriers - our services are available in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese-Taiwanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
• Money sent worldwide and in your local currency. You can get your refund in: Australian Dollars, Brazilian Reals, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollars, Czech Koruna, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Litas, Moldovan Lei, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krona, Pakistan Rupee, Peruvian Nuevo Soles, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Romanian Lei, Russian Rubles, Singaporean Dollar, Slovak Koruna, South African Rands, South Korean Won, Swedish Krona, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, UK Pounds, Ukrainian Hryvna, US Dollars.

How does taxback.com work?

Here's how our easy three-step service works:

1. Register online or use our FREE tax refund calculator and then download the TaxPack for Irish tax returns.
2. Send us your documents and signed forms. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tracking account. If you're missing any documents we can get replacements for you.
3. Chill out while we file your tax return and get you the maximum possible legal refund.

How long will it take to get my Irish tax refund?

As soon as we have it, you'll have it, because we contact you immediately when we receive your refund from the tax office to organise the easiest way to get it to you.

You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online account It'll go something like this:

When we get your documents it takes us just 1-3 working days to get your Irish tax return ready. This includes:

• Receiving and checking the documents
• Estimating your refund
• Completing your forms
• Sending them to the tax office

Once at the tax office your application will take about 8-12 weeks for PAYE returns, depending on how busy the office is. For PRSI refunds, it takes a sluggish six months to process but don't worry - our tax team will keep chasing the tax office to see how your application is progressing.

As soon as the tax office sends us your refund, we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your cash straight to you. The total estimated time for your Ireland tax rebate is 8-12 weeks.

How do I know what's happening with my tax return?

You can follow the progress of your Irish tax return on your online tracking account. It allows you to see every step of your application. As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.

Rather talk to a human being? We have staff available to talk to you in 21 taxback.com offices in 18 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.

How much will it cost?

First of all, our FREE Online Tax Estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.

When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

For Irish tax refunds we charge a small percentage of the refund received, subject to a minimum processing fee of €50.

Why the minimum fee?

Our fee covers all the things that make filing your application with us so easy such as:

• Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
• Online tracking service in seven languages
• Free phone and free fax
• Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process in 18 offices worldwide
• Tax technicians
• Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
• Quality team

Can I file my Irish tax return myself?

Every tax office in the world is set up to accept applications directly from taxpayers so yes, you can file your return yourself. The reality is though once you submit it, there's no updating process and no feedback until you get a yes or a no, which is frustrating and very worrying.

Preparing your Irish tax return will involve getting all the tax forms and trying to put all the information together properly – and it's not as easy as it looks.

The Irish tax system is very complex and filing their own tax return is a challenge that many Irish citizens don't even attempt themselves.

At the end of the day ask yourself -
Would I wire my own house?
The reality is no, I wouldn't - I'd use an electrician.
It's a technical, professional piece of work, so I'd get a technical professional
to do the job properly. I don't want to risk my house blowing up!

It's the same with tax. Our taxback.com customers rely on us as technical professionals to file their Irish returns and get their tax back. Last year we filed 4500 Irish tax refund claims. Our customers tell us they knew trying to file it themselves would lead to stress and a possible loss of money in refunds. They'd rather focus on their university courses, their day-job or, more importantly, on enjoying a pint at the local pub.

Filing your return yourself won't make your house explode, but it can result in lots of stress and leave you out of pocket if you miss out on refunds you're owed.

It's easier for you to let us put our 11 years of experience filing tax returns to good use by doing all the work for you. It makes sense to use an expert.

Just use our FREE online refund calculator to see how much tax you could get back.

Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?

No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.

Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of tax returns every week since 1996. Naturally, the Irish tax authority has the final decision in your tax refund based on their systems and tax codes.

When our tax technicians prepare and file your return, they check for any allowances or benefits you could get and ensure we apply for the maximum rebate possible.

What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?

We file your Ireland tax return in order to organise your tax refund.

A tax return is the annual submission of tax forms documenting your earnings, taxes paid, deductable expenses and allowances that you send to the tax office for review. They review it according to the information submitted by your employer and the current laws that apply to your case.

If you get a tax refund, this means the tax office review found you had overpaid Irish tax and were due some back.

Our estimate of your refund is based on our prediction of what the tax office will decide when they review your tax return - providing they have the same information as us.

Use our FREE online refund estimator to see how much tax you could get back.

I've worked abroad in other countries - can you help me to claim refunds from these countries?

Absolutely! We've been organising tax refunds for people working all over the world since 1996. If you've worked in any of the following countries click on them to apply for your refund!

Australia tax refund	Austria tax refund	Belgium tax refund
Canada tax refund	Denmark tax refund	Germany tax refund
Gibraltar tax refund	Guernsey tax refund	Holland tax refund
Japan tax refund	Luxembourg tax refund	New Zealand tax refund
Norway tax refund	UK tax refund	US tax refund

Our research team is constantly developing tax return services for new markets so if you've worked in a country not mentioned above, email our team on newtaxes@taxback.com to see what we can do for you.