W
winniemcl
Guest
I recently filed income tax returns which were outstanding since 2005, and what a relief. I thought I was alone, but recently came across 2 other people in a similar boat.
The story begins here.....
I was advised by an employer, with whom I was freelancing as a journalist in 2005 while on summer holidays from college, to register as self employed. I only worked in the job for 3 months, earning around €7,000, before returning to college. I rang revenue at the start of the summer and registered as self employed. I was under the misguided assumption that if I didn't earn very much money that I wouldn't be required to pay any tax. I pocketed my tax-free earnings, and went back to college, thinking no more of it.
Around the same time, I began a regular freelancing gig with a local paper, earning between €100 and €200 a month, which continued when I went back to college.
It was when I received my first notice to file an Income Tax Return, probably in 2006, that alarm bells began to ring. I rang the all knowing 'tax office' to inform them that I was no longer self employed (for some reason I didn't think the freelance work counted) and I was told that they would make note of that, but I would still have to fill out the tax return anyway. Ignorant and fond of procrastination as I was, I put it to the back of my mind and in late 2006, after finishing college, secured a full time job, earning around €28,000. Unbeknownst to me, I was still registered as self employed, despite earning a regular wage and paying (large chunks of) PRSI and PAYE every month. I was however, still freelancing on the local paper, bringing in an extra €2,000 a year.
I received an income tax return reminder every year, but just ignored them, thinking they would go away, and believing that because my freelance work didn't bring me into the next tax bracket that I wouldn't owe 'them' any more money. What a fool!
It was only when I decided to apply for rent relief in 2009 that I realised I really had to do something about it. My application was promptly sent back to me, with a note saying it couldn't be processed because I had outstanding tax returns. I was enraged! I had been paying taxes for three years, and rent for the same amount of time. SURELY they owed me me money.
I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and rang the tax office and finally found someone to listen to my story. I was told to file all of the missing tax returns, include ALL of my income (I'd already admitted on the phone to the freelance work...I was sure that somehow they'd find out anyway). And it was only when I sent an actual letter to Revenue that I was finally taken of the 'self-employed' list.
They sent out all the scary Form 11s and I, typically, put them in a drawer and forgot about them for another few months. It was only when I started getting very official looking reminders and warnings that I finally decided to take it seriously. I gathered any paperwork I had accrued over the years....P60s, pay slips, Tax Credit Certs...all of these things that had meant nothing to me in the past, and got to work filling out anything I could (which wasn't much).
Five years of Income Tax Returns later, I wrote an honest cover letter, explaining that I hadn't been trying to get out of paying tax, I had just been plain ignorant.
I've only just now started getting the bills. The first one came last week, for 2008, and it said I owed €557. I cried for half an hour, thinking that it would be the same for every year. But then another one came, saying that they owed ME money for 2006, bringing my bill down to €290. I've been watching the post every day, dreading what's going to come. I rang my local revenue office today to try to see if they could tell me where I stood.
Thank god for the woman on the other end of the phone. She told me to fax her all of my rent relief and medical expenses forms for the past few years, and that she would calculate them, and take what I was owed off the €1,000+ I now owe in back taxes. I'm pretty hopeful, seeing as most people seem to get a few hundred euro a year back in rent relief.
Things are never as bad as they seem. Bite the bullet, and do it. I know I'm not alone in this situation. And I wish there had been someone to talk me through it.
The story begins here.....
I was advised by an employer, with whom I was freelancing as a journalist in 2005 while on summer holidays from college, to register as self employed. I only worked in the job for 3 months, earning around €7,000, before returning to college. I rang revenue at the start of the summer and registered as self employed. I was under the misguided assumption that if I didn't earn very much money that I wouldn't be required to pay any tax. I pocketed my tax-free earnings, and went back to college, thinking no more of it.
Around the same time, I began a regular freelancing gig with a local paper, earning between €100 and €200 a month, which continued when I went back to college.
It was when I received my first notice to file an Income Tax Return, probably in 2006, that alarm bells began to ring. I rang the all knowing 'tax office' to inform them that I was no longer self employed (for some reason I didn't think the freelance work counted) and I was told that they would make note of that, but I would still have to fill out the tax return anyway. Ignorant and fond of procrastination as I was, I put it to the back of my mind and in late 2006, after finishing college, secured a full time job, earning around €28,000. Unbeknownst to me, I was still registered as self employed, despite earning a regular wage and paying (large chunks of) PRSI and PAYE every month. I was however, still freelancing on the local paper, bringing in an extra €2,000 a year.
I received an income tax return reminder every year, but just ignored them, thinking they would go away, and believing that because my freelance work didn't bring me into the next tax bracket that I wouldn't owe 'them' any more money. What a fool!
It was only when I decided to apply for rent relief in 2009 that I realised I really had to do something about it. My application was promptly sent back to me, with a note saying it couldn't be processed because I had outstanding tax returns. I was enraged! I had been paying taxes for three years, and rent for the same amount of time. SURELY they owed me me money.
I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and rang the tax office and finally found someone to listen to my story. I was told to file all of the missing tax returns, include ALL of my income (I'd already admitted on the phone to the freelance work...I was sure that somehow they'd find out anyway). And it was only when I sent an actual letter to Revenue that I was finally taken of the 'self-employed' list.
They sent out all the scary Form 11s and I, typically, put them in a drawer and forgot about them for another few months. It was only when I started getting very official looking reminders and warnings that I finally decided to take it seriously. I gathered any paperwork I had accrued over the years....P60s, pay slips, Tax Credit Certs...all of these things that had meant nothing to me in the past, and got to work filling out anything I could (which wasn't much).
Five years of Income Tax Returns later, I wrote an honest cover letter, explaining that I hadn't been trying to get out of paying tax, I had just been plain ignorant.
I've only just now started getting the bills. The first one came last week, for 2008, and it said I owed €557. I cried for half an hour, thinking that it would be the same for every year. But then another one came, saying that they owed ME money for 2006, bringing my bill down to €290. I've been watching the post every day, dreading what's going to come. I rang my local revenue office today to try to see if they could tell me where I stood.
Thank god for the woman on the other end of the phone. She told me to fax her all of my rent relief and medical expenses forms for the past few years, and that she would calculate them, and take what I was owed off the €1,000+ I now owe in back taxes. I'm pretty hopeful, seeing as most people seem to get a few hundred euro a year back in rent relief.
Things are never as bad as they seem. Bite the bullet, and do it. I know I'm not alone in this situation. And I wish there had been someone to talk me through it.