Question on tax credits?

[Nomansland]

Hi,
My wife and I are jointly assessed for income tax purposes. We are both in the PAYE sector. For the year 2010, prior to doing a tax return, I would have recieved a total tax credit of 3660 (1830 personal and 1830 PAYE credit). My wife would have recieved the same plus and extra 70 for trade union stubs.

I earned 60K approx for the year so I am well into the top rate. I know that I only payed 41% on income over 45,400, as we are jointly assessed and my wife earned way less than the 36,400 cut off point.

My wifes taxable income according to her P60 was 17,400. On my calculations, her tax due would have been 17,400 @ 20% = 3480. This 3480 is offset against her tax credit of 3730, meaning no tax due, which was reflected on her P60. However 250 of her tax credit has not been utilised. Can this be transferred to me so I get the benefit of it??

Also, I know that you are entitled to a tax credit for health insurance paid by your employer. I have a few questions on this.

1 - Is it 20% of the gross amount paid by your employer on your behalf?
2 - Is this credit automatically given to you by revenue at the start of the year, or do you have to claim for it by way of form 11.
3 - If you have to claim for it, and have not done so for a number of years, how many years can you go back and claim for.

Thanks in advance,
NM.

 

[mandelbrot]

Yes, that spare 250 of tax credit can be transferred to you, you just need to request a balancing statement for 2010. You may also have other tax credits to claim, like service charges, unreimbursed medical expenses (i.e. to the extent that they weren't already refunded from health insurance).

The easiest way to deal with all this as a PAYE taxpayer, unless you've got a tax phobia, is to register for the PAYE anytime service. You can do all of the above mentioned online in 5 minutes once you've registered and got your PIN in the post. And you can go back up to 4 years, ie to 2007 tax year.

As regards the health insurance paid by your employer, AFAIK tax relief at source applies, so there's nothing further for you to claim.

PM me or post back in here if you've any questions about the PAYE anytime, and you'll be pointed in the right direction...

 

[Nomansland]

Thanks a million for this info. This really is a great site for picking up info.
The thing with the 250 euro spare tax credit (not used by my wife) is that (if the situation arises again) I would like to claim it as one lump sum at the end of a tax year, and not have it spread out over all my payslips in the year. Do you know if this is possible?

Also,
For the year 2011, my wife will not be working at all. She is now a stay at home mother. I am pretty sure that I can claim the home carers allowance of 800 odd euro for her. Is this correct? Also, if she is not earning any money whatsoever, can I claim her tax credit of 3660 euro? If so, again could I claim this at the years end, rather than have it spread out over a years pay slips.

Thanks in advance
NM.

 

[Gekko]

You should be able to claim the married persons tax credit, your own PAYE credit and the home carer credit (if you've kids).

If your employer is paying your health insurance, you should be entitled to an additional credit. The other stuff (e.g. service charges, unreimbursed medical etc) should also yield additional credits.

You can go back 4 years (so in 2011 you can go back to 2007).

 

[Nomansland]

Again, thanks a million for the info.
Can I actually claim her full tax credit on top of my own for 2011 (she is not working) as well as the home carers credit (she is minding our kids), or would they just subtract the home carer credit from her PAYE and single persons credit and give me the balance??

Sorry about all the questions. I know I should be contacting revenue about this, but I am abroad with work at the moment and time change makes it difficult.

 

[huskerdu]

Again, thanks a million for the info.
Can I actually claim her full tax credit on top of my own for 2011 (she is not working) as well as the home carers credit (she is minding our kids), or would they just subtract the home carer credit from her PAYE and single persons credit and give me the balance??

You can claim 1830 of her tax credit. Either the personal or PAYE credit is not transferrable. I cant remember which.

You can also claim the home carer credit as she is at home minding the kids.

I dont understand your question about subtracting the home carer credit from her PAYE credit, that doesn't make sense. Can you explain ?

Sorry about all the questions. I know I should be contacting revenue about this, but I am abroad with work at the moment and time change makes it difficult.

All the more reason to register for PAYE online.

 

[Gekko]

You claim the married persons credit of €3,300 plus your PAYE credit of €1,650 plus the home carer credit (so all you're not claiming is her PAYE credit of €1,650 which you can't claim).

By claiming the married persons credit of €3,300 you are claiming her single persons credit (as your single persons credit of €1,650 plus her single persons credit of €1,650 equals the married persons credit of €3,300).

 

[mandelbrot]

Thanks a million for this info. This really is a great site for picking up info.
The thing with the 250 euro spare tax credit (not used by my wife) is that (if the situation arises again) I would like to claim it as one lump sum at the end of a tax year, and not have it spread out over all my payslips in the year. Do you know if this is possible?

Also,
For the year 2011, my wife will not be working at all. She is now a stay at home mother. I am pretty sure that I can claim the home carers allowance of 800 odd euro for her. Is this correct? Also, if she is not earning any money whatsoever, can I claim her tax credit of 3660 euro? If so, again could I claim this at the years end, rather than have it spread out over a years pay slips.

Thanks in advance
NM.

To answer the above, yes, you can choose to transfer any amount of your wife's credits to yourself (except for the PAYE allowance which can't be transferred) and the untransferred portion can then be claimed as a refund after the end of the tax year.

Also, re your health insurance paid by your employer, they pay the gross premium and charge you a BIK on it, so you have to claim a tax credit of 20% of the gross premium. Check your certificate of tax credits to see if this credit is on it already.