Make sure your affairs are in order.
Hundreds or even thousands of Irish ‘self-assessed taxpayers’ face financial penalties if they do not submit the necessary documentation to the Revenue before the deadline of October 31 (November 14 via Revenue Online Service – ROS).
According to tax experts Taxback.com, due to a raft of new revenue-generating activities having come on stream in the last 12 – 18 months, there could be hundreds or even thousands of people who simply do not know their tax responsibilities.
Based on anecdotal evidence, including direct enquiries, Taxback.com have outlined the top three taxpayers who they believe could be newly classed as self-assessed this year.
Bloggers
Taxback.com says that people who would class themselves as social media influencers, digital influencers, bloggers, commercial hashtaggers etc. need to let the taxman known if they are engaging in these activities and receiving payment.
Sharing economy participants
Irish people are getting their fair share of this financial pie by getting involved in the practice of sharing, swapping and/or renting their possessions or services.
Examples include renting your parking space, signing up as a Deliveroo driver, advertising and selling goods and services on sites such as Done Deal and Adverts.ie
Taxback.com are advising people that, regardless of whether or not you also have a full-time job, if you earn income from the sharing economy, you’ll need to declare this to Revenue.
“If you have earned more than net untaxed €5,000 a year, you will need to register as a self-assessed individual with Revenue by completing a TR 1 form (you will only need to do this once),” said Barry Flanagan of Taxback.com.
“You’ll then need to file a Form 11 tax return and make a tax payment by October 31st each year for the previous year’s earnings.
“Should you earn less than net €5000 a year, you still need to file a return. Form 12 is the correct option to file. Similarly to Form 11, your earnings from the previous year will be relevant when completing a Form 12.
“So for example, if you started delivering food for Deliveroo in 2016, you’ll need to pay tax on that income by October 31st 2017.”
Airbnb hosts
Airbnb alone contributes roughly €200 million to the Irish economy per year; in 2015, 7,200 Irish hosts earned an average of €2,600 each year by taking paying guests into their homes using Airbnb.
Revenue had stated clearly that any income earned through renting out your room/apartment/home through Airbnb will be treated as taxable income and must be declared.
As well as those three categories, other people who could be required to file a tax return include:
- Anyone who has received income which is not coded into their tax credit certificate. This can include the following –
- Anyone who has received income from renting out a property
- Anyone who has received dividends from shares
- Anyone who has received income from casual childminding duties
- Anyone who has opened a foreign bank account during the previous year
“Every year, thousands of taxpayers join the self-assessed tax bracket – and this year is no different,” Flanagan added.
“In fact, due to a variety of factors, this year may well be a bumper year for Revenue as more and more people are learning how to generate either a primary or a supplementary stream of income for themselves. However, our experience has been that when the filing deadline rolls around, lots of people are either completely unaware of their tax filing obligations or are unsure about exactly what they need to do.”
For more information, check out Taxback.com.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
