The number of people with no clue about the tax they pay seems to be growing.
Nearly 9 out of 10 taxpayers in Ireland are unsure as to how much tax they hand over to Revenue each month, according to a new survey from Taxback.com.
The tax refund specialists asked over 3,000 taxpayers throughout the country how well they know their own tax affairs and whether or not they would like to know more.
The findings revealed that respondents had a dearth of knowledge on the subject, but also a big appetite to learn.
Just 12% surveyed knew exactly what tax they pay, while 34% said they had “no idea” the rate and 46% said they did not understand their payslip.
Meanwhile, the survey asked respondents if they would like their employer to provide a resource for greater education around personal finance and taxation.
This would be so that they could have a better understanding of matters like their payslip, tax bands, and tax reliefs.
Taxback.com say support for such a programme was huge, with 89% agreeing that such a measure would be of benefit.
70% said that it would be of direct and personal benefit to them and 19% agreed it would help other colleagues.
Marian Ryan, Consumer Tax Manager at Taxback.com, said in statement: “In many ways, the findings are understandable – tax is just a given for most people – PAYE employees don’t even see it come out of their wages as it is deducted at source – so for them, it’s income they never had.
“What’s more, our experience would suggest that people just don’t know who to ask about general finances. But it’s very important to know about your personal tax affairs.”
She added: “Although your employer is responsible for deducting your taxes from your income, Revenue will always state that it is each individual’s own responsibility to ensure their tax affairs are in order and they are receiving all tax credits they are entitled too.
“Your employer will deduct tax based on your Tax Credit certificate, but only you can add additional tax credits to this.”
Taxback.com report that, when compared with a similar 2016 survey, it appears the number of those who don’t have any idea about their tax rate is actually growing, increasing from 26% to 34%.
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