Maternity Leave and Tax Back

[becklou]

Hi all, I have two questions regarding maternity leave.

I am due on the 9th of August and had planned to take maternity leave from the 25th July - if I do so I will not return to work until 2009.

First question: can I claim tax back for this year? My employer is not paying for maternity leave - so i will be claiming Maternity Benefit from the Dept of Social Welfare.

Second Question: When can I take my hols accured? I assume if I don't take them by end of year they will be gone...so does my employer have to provide time for me to take them before I go....ie: take the annual leave in July before I go on maternity leave.

Thank you all.

R

 

[Nige]

Becklou, you will be entitled to some tax back but will have to wait until you have your P60 for 2008 from your employer - so it will be early 2009 before you will get that refund.

Alternatively, if you are married you can transfer your tax credits and standard rate cut off point to your husband and he can get the benefit of your unused allowances.

 

[sandrat]

with regards to holidays, you are entitled to the same amount of holidays that you would be due if you were in work. My employer is allowing me to carry these forward to 2009 provided I write to them requesting the same. You cannot take holidays after paid maternity leave and before unpaid leave (if you intend to take unpaid leave) as maternity leave must be continous. Also you are entitled to time off for any bank holidays that occur during your maternity leave (both paid and unpaid)

 

[Margie]

Simply by reading this thread today, I have discovered that I am entitled to a refund of any tax paid by me in 2007 as i was on maternity leave (unpaid by my employer). After reading this thread I rang the revenue and asked what the story was to be told that a cheque will be sent out to me for a few hundred Euro. I am really annoyed that my employer nor the accounts department here in my workplace told me about this. Surely when I was issued with my P60 by accounts they should have informed me. I would not be very knowledgable where tax is concerned and genuinely didn't know that I was enitled to a refund. If I didn't contact the revenue today I wouldn't have got the refund. I'm raging but thanks yet again to AAM for informing me and making me a bit richer!