We have discovered recently that our father has been in receipt of a private pension of about €3000 gross per month and the state pension. He has not made any tax return in 25 years since he retired. It appears he has been paying tax on his private pension but not on his private and state pension combined. Am I right in saying that he should have been paying tax, PRSI, and other deductions on both incomes?
Has he received/requested PAYE balancing statements for any year to date. It's possible that he has overpaid an obscene amount of tax over the years, most of which would now be irrecoverable.
My father seemed to be under the impression that his employer did his tax returns for him. When we tried to point out that his employer paid his tax etc on his behalf but that it was up to him to do his tax returns he just said nothing. I don't know if he was asked to file a return or not.
Whereas Revenue could go back 25 years in cases of fraud or deliberate evasion, there would seem to be no reason for them to do so in this situation.
You should check the figures to see that he is not paying more tax than is due. You do not say if he is married, which would allow for a higher exemption, and tax credits. If he has overpaid you could put in a claim for a refund for the past 4 years.