Ireland Tax Refund FAQs

For construction workers in Ireland

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Before you strap on a hard hat and get stuck into construction work, there are a few important things you should know about working and paying taxes in Ireland.

As a construction worker in Ireland, you can be either a PAYE standard worker or self-employed – such as a subcontractor. If you are PAYE your employer will deduct tax and PRSI from your earnings. If you are self-employed, you are responsible for your own tax and PRSI.

Taxback.com can help sort out your tax affairs and get back any overpaid Irish tax for you. Our customers get an average tax refund of €840 from Ireland and PRSI refunds of €520.

Use our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much cash you could get back.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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How much money will I get back?

Taxback.com will get you back as much overpaid Irish tax as is legally possible. That amount depends on factors like:

Your earnings
Your expenses
How long you worked for

The average refunds we get for our Irish tax clients are €840 for PAYE and €520 for PRSI.

Try our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much cash you could get back

How will I know if I'm PAYE or self-employed?

If you're working in construction in Ireland, you will be either employed (PAYE) or self-employed – it depends on the terms and conditions of your work.

If you work for someone else in Ireland, it is important to know whether you are working for that person in an employed or self-employed capacity – such as a subcontractor in construction. If you are employing other people, it is your responsibility to correctly determine their employment status too.

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions, you are probably an employee/PAYE worker:

Do you have a contract of employment between you and a company?
Do you work in a specific role, for specific tasks, during specific hours and with a specific manager?
Does your ‘employer' pay you weekly or monthly and deduct income tax from your earnings before they pay you?
Are you entitled to/do you receive payslips?
Do you have specific targets?
Do you receive bonuses?
Are you paid overtime for extra hours worked?

If you answer ‘yes' to the following questions you are probably self-employed:

Do you run your own business and take responsibility for its success or failure?
Do you fulfill short-term contracts for specific periods of time or a specific body of work?
Can you hire someone to do work for you or help you at your own expense?
Do you risk your own money?
Can you decide how, when and where you work?
Do you provide the main items of equipment you need to do your job?
Do you regularly work for a number of different people?
Do you have a contract for services?
Do you issue an invoice for your services to receive payment?

What is PAYE?

If you are employed under the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system in Ireland, this means that your tax and [faq_6192]PRSI[/faq_6192] will be deducted from your earnings by your employer and paid to Revenue. The rate at which tax is paid depends on how much you earn.

What is self-employed?

If you're self-employed in Ireland, such as a subcontractor in construction, you are responsible for your own tax and [faq_6192]PRSI[/faq_6192]. This means:

You must register with your local Revenue Office as self-employed
You must Pay and File your taxes through a self-assessment tax return each year and declare all your income
You must pay tax on the profits you make during the tax year

Do I have to file a tax return?

If you're self-employed in Ireland, such as a construction subcontractor, you must file your taxes through an annual tax return called a self-assessment tax return. You are required to declare all your earnings and any other income you get and this information will be used to work out how much tax you have to pay.

The tax office usually issues your self-assessment tax return each year when the tax year finishes. If you receive one you must fill it out even if you don't think you had self-assessable income. You must file your tax return and pay your taxes by October 31st or you will face a surcharge and interest on any money owed.

NOTE: Even if you only worked for part of the year as self-employed, and were PAYE for the rest of the time, you will still need to file your tax return through a self-assessment tax return. Visit our self-employed in Ireland section for more information in self-assessment.

Can I claim expenses?

Yes, if you are self-employed in Ireland you can claim back work-related expenses. Expenses can significantly reduce your tax liability and are a vital part of your tax return. Many people forget to include this information and leave thousands of Euros worth of tax refunds unclaimed.

We can claim back money on many of your work-related expenses including:

Work tools
Protective clothing
Buying machinery
Repair and maintenance of work equipment

To claim back your expenses we'll need your receipts and records of your income and expenditure.

What is RCT?

RCT (Relevant Contracts Tax) is a tax system where the principal contractor deducts 35% tax from payments to subcontractors for whom they do not have a relevant payments card.

RCT applies to construction, forestry and meat processing operations and only when the principal contractor and subcontractor operate in the same industry.

If you are a subcontractor without a C2, you will receive an RCT Deduction Certificate, known as Form RCTDC, from your principal contractor when you get paid. You will need your RCTDCs from each of your employments during the tax year to claim a refund of this tax.

What is a C2?

A C2 is a certificate of authorisation issued to you as a subcontractor by the tax office if you apply and qualify for one. The C2 is a personalised card with your photo and signature and it allows principal contractors to apply to the tax office for a payments card for you. This will mean the 35% RCT tax will not be deducted from your earnings and you will need to pay your taxes through a self-assessment tax return at the end of the tax year.

To be eligible for a C2 you must:

Be a subcontractor working in the construction, forestry or meat processing industries
Trade from a fixed place of business
Have a satisfactory tax record for the last three years

Can I get rent relief?

If you're renting private accommodation in Ireland you may be eligible for rent relief. Relief for single persons under 55 is €400 for 2008 and will be granted by way of a tax credit at the standard rate of income tax.

Taxback.com can claim your rent tax credits and to do so we'll need information such as:

The tenancy dates and address
The weekly/monthly amount of rent you were paying
The name and address of your landlord

Can I claim my medical and dental expenses?

If you've paid qualifying health and dental expenses during the tax year, such as doctor's visits or laser eye surgery not completely covered by your VHI/Bupa/Vivas or insurance provider, taxback.com can claim tax relief on these expenses for you.

Examples of medical expenses:

Costs of doctors' and consultants' fees
Items and treatments prescribed by a doctor/consultant such as drugs and medicine, hearing aids, physiotherapy, wheelchairs, diagnostic procedures, orthopaedic treatments
Hospital treatment
Laser eye surgery
Speech and language therapy
Transport by ambulance
Maternity care

Examples of dental treatments:

Bridgework
Crowns
Veneers
Root canal treatment
Surgical extraction of wisdom teeth

Make sure your keep your receipts and bills from these expenses.

Can I claim back bin and water service charges?

If you pay charges on bin or water services you may be able to claim tax credits of up to €400. Qualifying services are those paid to local authorities for domestic water supply, refuse collection and sewage disposal. To be eligible you must have paid your charges on time and in full in the year you wish to claim for.

Taxback.com can claim your service charges back.

Can I claim back my trade union fees?

If you've paid subscription fees to a Trade Union you may be eligible for up to €70 of trade union subscription relief. To be eligible you must be a member of a qualifying trade union so make sure you know the name of the union and the amount you paid so we can get it back for you.

How long will it take to get my Irish tax refund?

As soon as we have it, you'll have it, because we contact you immediately when we receive your refund from the tax office to organise the easiest way to get it to you.

You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online account. It'll go something like this:

When we get your documents it takes us just 1-3 working days to get your Irish tax return ready. This includes:

Receiving and checking the documents
Estimating your refund
Completing your forms
Sending them to the tax office

Once at the tax office your application will take about 6-8 weeks for PAYE returns, depending on how busy the office is. For PRSI refunds, it takes a sluggish six months to process but don't worry - our tax team will keep chasing the tax office to see how your application is progressing.

As soon as the tax office sends us your refund, we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your cash straight to you.

The total estimated time for your Ireland tax rebate is 6-8 weeks.

How does taxback.com work?

Here's how our easy three-step service works:

Register online or use our FREE tax refund calculator and then download the TaxPack for Irish tax returns.
Send us your documents and signed forms. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tracking account.
Chill out while we file your tax return and get you the maximum possible legal refund.

How do I know what's happening with my tax return?

You can follow the progress of your Irish tax return on your online tracking account. It allows you to see every step of your application. As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.

Rather talk to a human being? We have staff available to talk to you in 26 taxback.com offices in 19 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.

What are the advantages of using taxback.com?

Thousands of people choose our service because:

We get you the maximum legal refund
FREE online refund estimations
Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your tax return every step of the way
All our Irish tax returns are legal and compliant with Ireland's tax laws.
24-hour customer support and tax refund help
Free phone, free fax, free online tax help with our live chat!
No language barriers - our services are available in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese-Taiwanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Money sent worldwide and in your local currency. You can get your refund in: Australian Dollars, Brazilian Reals, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollars, Czech Koruna, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Litas, Moldovan Lei, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krona, Pakistan Rupee, Peruvian Nuevo Soles, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Romanian Lei, Russian Rubles, Singaporean Dollar, Slovak Koruna, South African Rands, South Korean Won, Swedish Krona, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, UK Pounds, Ukrainian Hryvna, US Dollars.

How much will it cost?

First of all, our FREE Online Tax Estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.

When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

We have a no refund, no fee policy. For Irish PAYE tax refunds we charge 10% + levy of the refund received, subject to a minimum processing fee of €40 + levy.

For self-employed tax returns, we charge a €180 + levy up front fee for preparing and submitting the tax return, plus a percentage of the refund received, subject to a minimum fee of €40 + levy.

Why the minimum fee?

Our fee covers all the things that make filing your application with us so easy such as:

Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
Online tracking service in seven languages
Free phone and free fax
Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process in 18 offices worldwide
Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
Quality team