Revealed: Hundreds of euro in 'flat-rate expenses' can be claimed off taxman

Tipperary's Senator Garret Ahearn has revealed that hundreds of euro in "flat-rate expenses" can be claimed by workers depending on your profession. 

Flat-rate expense allowances are available to a wide range of professions.

The amount of the deduction is agreed between Revenue and representatives of groups or classes of employees (usually trade union officials).

All employees of the class or group in question can then claim the agreed deduction in their own tax credits.

Some of the professions that can claim the allowance are firefighters (€272), nurse (€733) and teachers (€518).

How to claim:

Flat rate expenses can be claimed by completing an Income Tax return. You can find this form in PAYE Services in myAccount. You can do this by following these steps:

*sign into myAccount

*click on ‘Review your tax’ link in PAYE Services

*select the Income Tax return for the relevant tax year

*in the ‘Tax Credits & Reliefs’ page select ‘Flat rate expenses’ and add it as a tax credit.

What are tax reliefs?

Tax reliefs can directly reduce the income on which you pay Income Tax.

Revenue will deduct the amount of the relief from your income before your tax is calculated.

They may be referred to as an ‘allowance’ or ‘deduction’.

For example, Guide Dog Allowance and Employing a Carer.

This will result in you receiving a refund of tax that you have already paid and will be applied at source, for example, Mortgage Interest Relief, where the mortgage lender reduces your mortgage payments by the amount of the relief.

The amount of relief you receive depends on the rate of tax you pay.

The tax reliefs you can claim depend on your personal situation. You can find many of the reliefs in the Personal tax credits reliefs and exemption section.

For example:

*Rent-a-Room Relief is in Land and property

*Transborder Worker’s Relief is in Income and employment

*Relief for Tuition fees paid for third level education is in Education

*Flat-rate expenses is in Income and employment.

You can use myAccount to apply for tax reliefs by selecting ‘Manage your tax 2022’.

Fine Gael's Senator Ahearn outlines some of the professions that can claim flat-rate expenses below and how much they can claim: