148,000 file 2019 income tax returns by Friday lunchtime
A total of 148,000 2019 tax returns had been filed online with the Tax and Customs Board by 1 p.m. Friday, Baltic News Service reports. The online filing system was opened Thursday evening.
Close to half of these, at around 63,000, were filed using a smart device, the MTA says.
This year, the deadline for filing returns has been put back by one month, to April 30, with paper versions of pre-completed income tax returns for 2019 issued from Monday, February 17.
The deadline for paying taxes due on 2019 is Ocotber 1 this year, according to BNS.
Given long queues in the initial period, and the fact that the deadline has been put back a month, the MTA advises residents to wait where possible, before filing, particularly in the case of paper retruns, which can see long lines at MTA offices.
The MTA says it reserves the right to limit the number of users accessing its e-environment at any given time, BNS reports.
The authority will start to pay rebates on excess income tax from February 26 for electronic filers, and from March 19 for paper filers. The deadline for the payment of these is also October 1. Many of these rebates are due to overpayment arising from people erroneously reporting a smaller tax-free exemption than they were permitted.
The basic exemption threshold is capped at €500 a month, or €6,000 a year.
Exemption amounts fall on a sliding scale between incomes of €14,400 and €25,200 per annum, and stand at zero for those earning more than that, BNS reports.
400,200 people, or 41 percent of the total taxpayer base, received a basic exemption last year, according to BNS, with 530,000 using a smaller exemption than they were entitled to and thus receiving a rebate.
At the same time, over 68,000 people went the other way and set a higher exemption than permitted, meaning they will have to pay back what is owed.
Around €147 million is earmarked for rebates, with €13 million being due to the MTA for underpayments, BNS reports.
The MTA's site in English is here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte