More than 50% of workers do not claim tax reliefs annually

More than 5 in 10 people do not claim the tax reliefs and refunds they are owed every year. This is one of the headline findings from the latest Taxback.com Taxpayer Sentiment Survey 2022. The tax refund specialist has released the results of the survey ahead of the second Taxback.com Employee Wellbeing Summit.

Addressing the knowledge gap that exists for employees around tax entitlements and benefits is just one of the areas that will be explored on the day, with the focus of the Summit being primarily on promoting greater awareness of and offering guidance on developing wellness in the workplace – with emphasis on the workplace, financial, and emotional wellbeing.

The Taxback.com survey also found that:

—  Almost 8 in 10 people are unaware of Flat Rate Expenses (FREs) – the tax relief that exists to help tens of thousands of workers across a broad range of professions to offset the costs of uniforms and equipment required for the course of their work.

—  17% of people said they’ve only ever claimed tax refunds once in their life, while 11% said they only do it “very sporadically”.

—  1 in 5 have either not set up a Revenue online account and/or do not know what this is.

The Issue of Tax Reliefs

Barry Cahill, Director of Taxback.com’s Employee Financial Wellbeing Service spoke of the findings,

“It’s surprising, and somewhat alarming, to find that almost half of us are still not claiming back our tax refund at the end of the year. This figure should be much, much higher. However, the data speaks for itself – it’s clear that people remain uncertain, reticent, and/or unwilling to approach the topic of their taxes, often for fear of the process complicating their lives more. This is a misnomer we very much want to quash as, for the vast majority of people, we find that there is money owed to, not by, the taxpayer.

We have witnessed this reluctance on the part of the employee through the rollout of our Employee Financial Wellbeing initiative. This program was launched last year, in order to equip employees with the knowledge and know-how to enable them to put their personal tax affairs in order and to ensure they are in receipt of any and all refunds and reliefs available to them. Our discussions with employees showed that people are slow to act when it comes to taxes.

However, we have since submitted tax returns for thousands of workers who participated in the programme and the average refund amount received to date amounts to €1,250, with the highest individual refund being €7,400. This is a lot of money to be left in the hands of the taxman. Furthermore, the longer you leave it the less likely you are to apply at all, and you also run the risk of going past the 4-year deadline.”

The Summit

Taxback.com say the impact of the pandemic and subsequent return to work has changed norms within the workplace, resulting in a new focus on wellbeing among the workforce and business leaders. The Employee Wellbeing Summit 2022 aims to explore these issues in detail, as well as highlight actionable tools for employers to help them, support staff, through the transition.

Mr Cahill commented,

“From an HR and management perspective, now more than ever, supporting the emotional and financial wellbeing of your employees is crucial and has a very positive impact on both employees and your business. Our panel of experts aim to delve into the topics of the workplace and financial wellbeing with the aim of helping businesses learn how they can incorporate different initiatives into their wellbeing programmes in order to improve the personal and financial wellbeing of their team.”

Speakers at this year’s Summit include Eoin McGee, Principal at Prosperous Financial Planning, Fania Stoney, CEO & Co-Founder of Healthy Place to Work, Triona Desmond, Group Wellbeing Partner at AIB, Claire Hellen, HR Strategy Specialist at Ibec, and Joanna Murphy, CEO at Taxback.com.