Australian expats urged to claim $2,600 tax refund

Some 150,000 Irish people who went to Australia on a working holiday visa may be entitled to claim back an average tax refund of $,2600 (€1,614).

According to Eileen Devereux of www.taxback.com, anyone who worked down under in the years 2005 to 2015 will be able to submit a tax refund application.

"Every year we try to get the message out to as many people as possible and although we may sound like a broken record at this stage - there are still people who do not know that if they worked in Australia in the last 10 years then they might be entitlement to a tax and possibly pension refund! There is an estimated € 100 million in tax refunds in the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and because Australia is such a firm favourite of Irish travellers then Irish people could be entitlement to a significant chunk of that pot".

The primary tax rebate entitlements that Irish people are eligible to claim for are income tax and superannuation. On average, Taxback customers get a refund of $2,600 for the former and $3380 for the latter.

Taxback.com says that the size of an individual’s income tax refund will depend on a number of factors such as, the amount they earned, residency status, tax rate, etc.

The company charges a range of fees to claim back the tax. Charges for a superannuation refund are 20 per cent, plus a handling fee of the amount processed by the relevant tax office.