Living separate - Taxation

B

Bharath

New Member
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Hi,

Last year October I moved out of my owned home due to various emotional issues with family and health and started to live separately and rent.
I informed Revenue that I've separated even though it was temporary and was there is chance I could go back to the family house thinking that I would avail Rent relief.
However Revenue increased my PAYE because the Marriage tax credit and extend tax band benefits have been removed since I'm living separately.
My wife does not work and never worked.
I have 2 children who are above 18 but don't work as they cannot find jobs. They do odd jobs here and there but nothing concrete.
My daughter tried to avail job seekers allowance but the local Intreo office said she cannot as she has never received any rejection from any organisation since she applied to a lot of them via Job seekers websites and received no replies. Intreo said this is not considered as rejection.
My family completely depends on my single salary which has now been cut short.
I pay for the mortgage, bills, food, fuel for them and my own rented accommodation, my food and my bills.

I don't know what to do here as it's breaking my family financially as every little counts now.
Any help and direction is appreciated.
 
"I informed Revenue that I've separated"
Revenue did what you told them to do. When you went from Joint Accessed you lost your Wife's unused allowances and (if your were claiming it) her the Home Carer's Allowance. These are worth alot more than the Rent Allowance.
I can give more advice, it is common sense so you may not like it.
 
Your children are now adults and need to start supporting themselves; if they are otherwise healthy there is no reason for them not to be working.

In the longer term, the same will be true for your former wife, but being out of the workforce for a long time makes that harder.

If you believe this separation is permanent then you need to make that legal, either by applying for a divorce or judicial separation. That will include financial settlement terms.
 
There was no advantage to telling Revenue, while you are not officially separated or divorced you can continue to be assesed as a married couple, that would be more beneficial especially when your wife was not using her allowances. Unless of course there was a social welfare aspect to it and you/she expected to be able to claim something, of that I am not expert, I suggest you call Citizens Information, they are expert on this sort of thing.
 
If you now have double the household expenses then all members who are able to work need to so that the households can be supported. Including your wife unless there are health reasons why she can't. You might need to give your adult children some guidance on how to apply for jobs and present themselves for interview if it is something they are new to. Thr intero office might be able to point them to resources for cv writing etc. This should not all be on you even if it once was.
 
You should be able to complete a tax return an elect to be jointly assessed for the year of your separation. This should give you some refund of the tax paid.
 
Yes I realise telling revenue was a mistake when things weren't permanent.

I will do a tax return to be jointly assessed as it would immensely help everyone financially.

with regards to my daughter looking for job sellers allowance, what advice can you give seeing the Intreo were looking for a rejection from orgs but all she has is no response when applying for jobs on Indeed and other such sites?
Please go ahead Towger. I'll probably need it.
Thank you everyone.
 
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When did your children finish their education? Leaving aside the difficulties with your marriage, what was the plan for them to start working?
 
It's possible to be taxed as a married couple after separation. There are some requirements, such as paying legally enforceable maintenance but if your salary is already supporting your family it might be worthwhile. Have a look at this Revenue page .
 
There is no harm in asking the children to contact the businesses they applied too and ask them for a formal rejection letter. Even call in and ask. If they do it for 20 companies, they might get 1 or 2 back.
 
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