Friday, October 30, 2009

Get your TAX BACK

Lets Talk Tax! Your Tax that is.

How many people regularly check how much tax they have paid on an annual basis?
How many people actually check their payslip every week or month?

Unfortunately, very few check either. Less than 20% of the working population applied for tax refunds and/or additional allowances last year. Are you one of the 1.8 million people possibly paying too much tax? If you pay tax, prsi and the income levy, you may be entitled to a refund. Remember, you can only claim for a maximum of 4 previous tax years, so this is your last chance to claim for tax year 2005. We get asked tax back related questions many times during our Payroll Training courses, because possible refunds and allowances differ from person to person, everybody needs to be assessed individually. The excuse we hear all the time from delegates attending our training, who do not apply for refunds is, "What if i end up owing tax?", folks, if you owe tax, you owe tax. If you think you do owe tax, there is probably a reason for it, and one you should sort out sooner rather than later. We are all entitled to claim refunds and additional allowances if due, don't be afraid of the tax man, the tax man is their to serve us all, it's your money after all!

A quick example of a possible refund situation is married couples, did you know a married couple can allocate any unused tax credits or cut-off points to claim a refund? If the tax you pay as two single people is greater than the tax that would be payable if you were taxed as a married couple, you can claim the difference.

If this seems complicated, don't worry for now, we will be posting further details on this over the next week or so, if you wish, please contact us or reply to this post with your query. Why not click the "Follow our Updates" button on the bottom of this page, you will then receive an email everytime our blog is updated.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Workers to claim back holiday time lost to illness, will expose employers to exploitation.

Employed by Madrid City Council, Francisco Pereda launched a legal action after being refused the right to alter his holiday plans because of an injury suffered just before he was due to take annual leave. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that he should have been allowed to alter his holiday dates, including the option to postpone his holiday and take it in the next holiday year.

The case did not involve someone taken ill during their holiday and the demanding compensatory sick leave. The court ruling made clear that if a "worker does not wish to take annual leave during a period of sick leave, annual leave must be granted to him for a different period".

The House of Lords in the UK reached a similar conclusion three months ago. The case brought by UK Customs staff, declared that workers could, in certain circumstances, build up holiday entitlement while on long-term sick leave. The EU ruling does not stipulate any time at which an illness could trigger the right to alter holidays, but lawyers examining the EU ruling say the result could be interpreted as giving workers the right to claim extra holiday time even if they have been taken ill after their holiday has begun.

E750 Fine for failing to produce payslips

The Pensions Ombudsman had received a complaint from a former employee of McAllen Construction Limited that pension deductions had been made from his wages, but had not been remitted to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme. The Pensions Ombudsman requested copies of all payslips relating to the former employee within 14 days. The request was ignored. As a result, proceedings were initiated and a summons served which resulted in today's Court hearing.
Commenting on the case, Pensions Ombudsman Mr. Kenny said;
"It is a requirement that all construction workers be members of the Construction Workers Pension Scheme. While I have many cases where this has not happened, this particular case is much more serious in that the complainant maintains that pension contributions were deducted from his wages but were not remitted by his employer to the pension scheme. Consequently it is important that I have sight of payroll records and payslips to complete my investigation".