Paying too much tax, time to claim some back.

Have you paid too much tax in the last 4yrs?

We are happy to advise our readers on a new way of getting tax back that you may have overpaid in the last 4yrs. The Irish Tax Store Ltd is a web based service which has been designed to provide individuals who have paid tax in Ireland with a very user friendly tax refund facility.

Average Refund €800 for each year claimed totalling over Eur3,000 for the 4yrs. Research by The Irish Tax Store has established that over 70% of Irish Taxpayers pay too much income tax/PRSI and/or fail to claim their full allowance to their entitlements. You can also be entitled to a refund when you change occupation, if you are made redundant or when you move from employment to retirement. The Irish Tax Store, operates on a No Refund, No Fee Basis.

The website is as follows: http://www.irishtaxstore.ie we would encourage you to log onto the website and follow the simple 3 step plan which takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Step 1. Hit the “Apply Now” button and complete the different sub-headings. Before making a claim we would recommend that you view the “Tax Refund PAYE” section on the website to view the allowances you may be entitled to claim a refund for and the specific information required from you to make sure you receive the maximum Tax Refund.

Step 2. On Receipt of a copy of you ID, a Utility Bill, the signature page on the F11 form and the letter of engagement (all which are down-loaded from website checklist at this point) you will be informed of the exact Refund due (by email).

Step 3. We will liaise with the revenue on your behalf to make sure you receive the maximum refund possible and forward on your refund cheque less a our payment for this service (15% of Total Refund) The Refund should be with you in approximately 6 – 8 weeks.

The most common sources of Tax Relief are as follows; -

• Medical Costs : (Except routine Dental & Ophthalmic care) incurred by you, on your own behalf, or on behalf of a dependent or relative, the portion of which is not covered by your Medical Insurer VHI/VIVAS, etc (see medical records, GP, Dentist & Medical Insurer)
• Trade Union Subscriptions : see payslip or HR Dept
• Service Charges : such as Bin (Includes Bin Tags) and Water charges with relief granted for charges incurred in previous year of your claim year (See Invoice from Provider, Local Authority or Private Company)
• Rent Relief : you will be asked for landlord PPS number, term of lease and rent paid.
• Tuition Fees : If you have been studying in Ireland during the last four years, you may be entitled to a refund (see the website for qualifying courses)

Important: Please record your Financial Advisor as White Star Finance, so we can monitor your claim on your behalf.

Personal debt getting you down?

A funny thing about personal debt, credit cards & personal loans over that last number of years is that the more money we earned, the more money we borrowed never thinking repaying the debt would be a problem.  But now that the level of money we earn has been significantly reduced for most of us, we now worry more than ever how it will be repaid.  Maybe if the past few years teach us anything for the future is the next time we have money it is to really consider what we need to borrow.

 Unfortunately for some of us it’s easier said than done. With redundancies and large pay cuts now the norm, some people just can’t afford to repay debt at the same levels they had been used to. What is required is a plan put in place that will allow us to pay off our debt as well as live our lives. No one expects you to hand over every cent of the money you earn to pay off your debts but what is expected is you make a reasonable attempt to repay the money you have borrowed…. after all you did spend it.

Steps to follow

1. Carry out an income and expenditure evaluation on yourself. Before you can even think of renegotiating any loan terms, you need to know what money is coming in and what is going out. Spend some time thinking about all of your expenses and take your time to include everything.  Remember what the purposes of the exercise is for, to REPAY YOUR DEBT, so you need to make a reasonable attempt to cut out certain luxury outgoings such as your tennis sub or gym membership.  A document which may be of help can be found here http://wp.me/pXjfb-k

Once you have all the information to hand you can now set about formulating your plan,

1. What is the overall figure you can reasonably afford to repay? There is no point in over estimating this figure as this may only put you back in difficulty if you cannot meet the repaymnets you set out for yourself.
2. Individually look at your debts.  What is owed on each, how much are they costing on a monthly basis, what are the interest rates being charged, how many years left to run, are you behind in any of the repayments?
3. Deciding on how much to offer each creditor is a difficult step. What I recommend is to contact each creditor individually. Find out if they’re willing to offer different terms.
   1. Can the period of time to repay the debt be pushed out, if your loan was originally had a 5 year repayment period and you are 2 years into paying it off, can you push it back to 5 years to reduce the monthly amount.
   2. Are they willing to offer a reduced interest rate?

Sometimes by following these steps you’ll find you can now afford to repay the debts. If that’s not the case keep reading.

If you’re still in the unfortunate position of not being able to meet you debts, a little more mediation is required. You need to get your creditors to agree to a payment plan which allows you to make a reduced repayment until your situation improves.

Inform your creditors about your financial hardship honestly
For people who fail to pay back their debts, there must be reasons which cause the failure. Nobody will ask you for a payment plan just for fun or with the main intention to get discount. Debt settlement has adverse effect on a person’s credit score.. How can the creditors be convinced? You must inform your creditors about the financial difficulties you are facing sincerely. Send them the income and expenditure evaluation and a letter including the following information;

• Give the account number or reference number.
• Explain why you are in financial difficulties e.g. sickness, unemployment, relationship breakdown etc.
• Say when you will be able to start payments and for how much. Only offer what you can afford on top of your normal payment.
• Ask your creditor to suspend interest and other charges if appropriate.

 

A sample offer letter can be found here,  http://wp.me/pXjfb-q

If your offer is accepted

• Write and thank your creditor
• Inform them of the method of payment
• Include or start the first payment

If your offer is not accepted

• Write again to your creditor asking that your offer be reconsidered.
• Include with the letter the amount you offered.
• If you creditor is refusing to freeze interest and other charges do point out that your offer was based on interest being frozen, otherwise the debt will not reduce.
• If your creditor persists in refusing the offer you have made, they can do nothing to get their money back without going to court.
• If your agreement is a hire purchase agreement and you have paid back one third of the loan your creditor cannot repossess the goods automatically.

 

We hope the steps and procedures outlined help, if you find yourself in this situation please remember there’s always a solution.

www.whitestar.ie

Letter of Offer

Insert your address here

Insert Date Here

Insert Name of Creditor Here

Re Account No.: Insert your account number here

Dear Sir/madam

Further to our recent correspondence, I am writing to advise you that I have now completed a full assessment of my current financial situation taking into account all my living expenses and commitments.

As a result I am now putting forward an offer of €      per week/month as being realistic in my current circumstances. Should circumstances improve to the extent where I can to increase this offer, I will contact you immediately.

In the meantime, I hope that this proposal will be acceptable to you. I would be grateful if you would suspend any interest and other charges being added to the account in order to help me resolve my difficulties within the shortest possible period.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

__________________
Insert your name here

INCOME & EXPENDITURE STATEMENT

INCOME & EXPENDITURE STATEMENT
1. Income (use all monthly or all weekly figures)			3. Priority Debts
Wages/Salary			All Arrears	OutstandingBalance		Payment Offer
Wages/Salary (spouse)			Mortgage
Family Credit			Rent
Benefits			Council Tax
Pension			Water Rates
Child Benefit			Gas
Other			Electric
Other			Court Fines
A. Total Income			Maintenance
2. Living Costs			Other
Mortgage			Other
Rent			D. Total Priority Debt Payment
Council Tax			C less D =4. Money forNon-priority Debts
Water Rates			Creditors Name		Balance Owed	Offer
Home Insurance			1.
Life Insurance etc.			2.
Electric			3.
Gas			4.
TV Licence			5.
Court Fines			6.
Maintenance			7.
Travelling Expenses			8.
Clothing			9.
School & Work Costs			Total Owed
Telephone			Total Payment
Housekeeping
Other
B. Total Living Costs
A less B = C. Money for Creditors
Name …………………………………………. Address …………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………… Signature …………………………………………. Date ……………………………. I/we agree that the above statement is a true record of the facts.

Welcome

Hi and welcome to the first of many blogs from White Star Finance.

We’ve all seen alot of change over the past few years, with the biggest change probably happening to peoples personal finances. Since the start of the uncertinaty in our economy our clients have been asking our opinions on their personal finances and asking questions such as ‘is the ECB going to cut the base rate? If so what does that mean to me?. Are the irish banks going to increase their margin, if so what will it cost ? Is it fair on the people of Ireland?’. And more recently with Whats happened between Quinn direct and the financial regulator people have been asking about thier health insurance ‘are our policies safe, will our claims be met’?

The White Star Finance Blog is designed to answer the questions you may have regarding your prsonal finance, it will offer you insightful tips on how save money in these trying times and we’ll offer our professional opion on the important topics that matter to you.

Watch out for the first installment of the White Star blog on it’s way soon.

Section 481 Film Finance – Get €3,300 of you tax back.

Section 481 Film Finance – Get €3,300 of you tax back at no cost !!!!!!

Some people put this in place every year and reap the rewards, don’t panic it’s around until 2015.
It’s what they call a no brainer.

• No up front capital required, money is provided by prearranged loan facility

• If you pay enough tax at the top rate you will receive €3,300 back into your hand

• Very low risk, out of 149 of these deals only 3 have fallen down, (all movies, to lessen the risk investment will only be made into TV programs)

Look at the finer points and have a good think about it.

What is the Film Finance (section 481)?

• Section 481 was introduced by the Irish Government in 1987 to promote the Irish film Industry,
• System for tax breaks on film production
• Tax relief on 100% of investment available

How Much should i invest?

• An individual investor can invest any amount between €10,000 and €50,000
• Investment amount should match income taxable at the top rate of tax
• Investors receive tax relief on their investment at the marginal rate of 41%

What is the investment process?

• Borrow €50,000 split into two loans (€33.4K, €16.6K)
• invest proceeds of the loan into film
• Receive film 3 cert, 2 months later
• give cert to employer
• gross salary adjusted for tax credits
• repay lesser loan using tax rebate
• keep the balance

How are loans repaid?

• Financing pre-arranged at start of the process
• Loan split into 2, €33.4K and €16.6k
• The smaller loan is paid off by your tax rebate
• Larger loan is paid off by producer of programme

What are the risks?

• The film does not get made and the revenue with draw tax relief

How can i apply?

• Call us on 01 2932373 and we’ll do the rest.

We really see this as a great opportunity

www.whitestar.ie

About to retire, what next ARF or Annuity

So your coming to retirement

Over the years you’ve saved all this money in a pension fund, what next?
don’t you just buy a monthly pension from a life assurance company?

We have a pension system in Ireland which is the envy of the world, where you don’t just have to buy a monthly pension, we have another option, we can place our hard earned money into whats called an ‘Approved Retirement Fund’

unfortunately it’s not as easy as placing all you money in the ARF (Approved Retirement Fund)and that’s that. Both the annuity and ARF systems have pros and cons. And before a choice can be made a good understanding of both systems and their pros and cons need to be looked at.

Annuities
An Annuity is a more commonly know as a pension, on retirement the person purchases a guarantee from a life assurance company that a monthly payment will be made by the company to the person for the remained of their life.

When calculating what the monthly figure will be the life assurance company look at:

• the amount in the pension fund
• your age and health status at time of purchase
• the type of pension you require (do you require a dependants pension)

Advantages of pension

• regular income for the remainder of your life
• once initial purchase is made no more investment is required
• Once purchase is made no more advice is required

Disadvantages

• If you die your pension dies with you and all that saving for retirement was for nothing
• Once level of income is set there is no changing it.

Approved Retirement Funds

Is essentially a bank account for your pension fund. Your pension fund is reinvested in assets such as shares, property, bonds and cash. The ARF is designed to continue to grow the value of your pension fund but your original investment is not guaranteed. You can withdraw income as you please, on which you pay tax as normal. Any money left in the fund on retirement can be passed to your next of kin.

Advantages of ARF’s

• Keep control of your money
• If you die the ARF can be passed to next of kin
• Any growth in the ARF is tax free
• You can take as much or as little income as you wish (depending on the size of fund)
• The ARF can buy an annuity later on

Disadvantages of ARF’s

• Your pension fund is invested. which means it’s not guaranteed, (although a risk adverse strategy can be adopted)
• The Fund could run out before you die
• Pay for investment advice

As you can see the advantages and disadvantages for both a numerous. Different strategies suit different people, it’s a very important decision to make so when making it take your time, sit down with your advisor and look at all the options available.

If you wish to discuss your options further please call on of the White Star Adviser’s on 01 2932373. or have a look at our website at: whitestar.ie

We can help you make the right decision.

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