Online filing of tax returns was possible from Thursday night, with the numbers who had done so nearing 150,000 by Friday lunchtime.

Pre-completed paper tax returns were available from Monday; a little over 1,000 have been filed so far.

The MTA has already noted that since the deadline for filing returns has been put back a month, to April 30, and given the demand both on its online service and its walk-in offices, as well as telephone hotline, delaying filing returns for a few days or even weeks is recommended.

Nonetheless the figure continues to grow; around 50,000 more returns have been filed between Monday lunchtime and Tuesday morning.

As reported by ERR, over half a million people, or in excess of 50 percent of the taxpayer base, will be due a rebate from 2019, primarily due to underestimating the tax-free allowance due to them.

Rebates are currently reported to total around €116 million, and can be paid out from February 26 in the case of online filers, or March 19 in the case of those who filed a paper return, with the deadline for payment October 1.

Conversely, around 6.4 million is due to the estimated 68,500 people who underpaid in 2019, again due mainly to placing themselves in the wrong tax-free allowance category.

Preliminary estimates had put both rebate and underpaid tax figures higher, at €147 million and €13 million respectively.

Tax payments themselves are also due by October 1.

Of the people who had submitted their tax returns, 1,610 have decided to donate their income tax paid in excess to a worthy cause, so far. This total amounts to €41,373.

The income tax-free threshold is capped at €500 per month or €6,000 in a year, for those making less than €14,400 per year. This then decreases on a sliding scale between €14,400 and €25,200 in a year, and is zero above that figure.

41 percent of taxpayers, or just over 400,000 people, received the full tax-free amount, BNS reports, 53 percent of those filing returns used a smaller basic exemption than they were entitled to.

Nearly than half those who filed online by Friday afternoon did so using a smart device, according to BNS.

Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!