False hope raised on tax rebate

Some 1,600 self-employed people who thought Christmas had come early because they were told they were due a tax rebate will not now receive the money, the Revenue Commissioners have said.

Due to a glitch in the Revenue On-line Service (Ros), an error was made when some individuals filed their returns at the end of October. They received letters stating they would be receiving a tax refund to which they were not actually entitled.

Error discovered

When the error was discovered the cheques had already been printed and were ready to be posted out. Some 60,000 cheques had to be re-examined to ensure they were correctly issued and were for the correct amount.

One self-employed individual said he received three separate letters from the Revenue telling him he would get a rebate.

A spokeswoman for the Revenue said over 360,000 timely income tax returns and payments were filed on Ros. The payments included balancing income tax due for 2011 and preliminary tax due for 2012.

“An issue arose with a very small proportion of these payments, 1,600, whereby the income tax payment was treated solely as a balancing payment in respect of 2011 rather than as a balancing payment in respect of 2011 and a preliminary tax payment in respect of 2012,” she said.