The Wedding season is in full swing…

Not a weekend goes by that you don’t see a ribbon-adorned car driving to the local chapel or a blushing bride with her new groom posing for photos in all sorts of weird and wonderful locations.

The costs of Weddings these days vary, but the average spend to say ‘I Do’ is still around a whopping €20,000! So any extra benefit post-nuptials can be a big help. But, where do you start?

Getting married opens-up new tax credit options to you.

Options like:

• Joint Assessment
• Year of Marriage Review
• Rent Credits
• Age Tax Credits
• Home Carers

Joint Assessment

Once you get married, you can opt to have you and your spouse’s taxes assessed together as one, and this is usually the tax-friendlier option.

The regular tax credits for a single person are a PAYE credit of €1650 and a personal credit of €1650 which is a total of €3300 worth of credits.

Now, when a couples taxes are assessed together, they are given a personal credit between them of €3300 plus their individual PAYE credit of €1650, which effectively means they get a €1650 deduction from their tax bill. You can also share your personal tax credit with your partner, as this can often mean a smaller tax bill.

Let’s look at an example. Say Chandler and Monica get married but they are unaware they can be jointly assessed. Their taxes look like this:

Chandler’s salary                              €35,000          Monica’s salary                            €27,000

Tax @ 20% up to €32,800                €6,560             Tax @20%                                     €5,400

Balance @ 41%                                  €902

Total income tax                               €7,462             Total income tax                         €5,400

Tax credits deducted                       €3,300             Tax credits deducted                €3,300

Total tax due                                     €4,162             Total tax due                              €2,100

If Chandler and Monica were to have their taxes jointly assessed, their taxes would look like this:

Chandler’s salary                               €35,000

Monica’s salary                                  €27,000

Total income                                      €62,000

Tax @ 20%                                           €12,400

Tax credits deducted                       €6,600 (€3,300 + €1650 + €1,650)

Total tax due                                      €5,800

Tax already paid                                €6,262 (€4,162 + €2,100)

Refund due                                         €462

€462 less tax to pay over many years of marriage could really alleviate the sting of that initial wedding cost!

Year of Marriage Review

You can also get a refund of taxes for the year in which you get married, even if you weren’t married for the full year. This will be a partial refund, dependent on the number of days you are married in that tax year.

In the example above, the refund due is €462. But if Monica and Chandler were only married on 15^th September that year, they would be entitled to 108 days out of the full year or 30% of the yearly refund i.e. €138.60.

For subsequent years, they would then be jointly assessed.

Rent Credits

If you are renting (and have been since 7th December 2010), married couples can claim double the rent credits as a single person. This works out the same if both of you were renting before you got married, but if only of you was renting, this can really help boost your finances.

Home Carers

If you have children and one of you are staying at home to mind them, there is also provision for a Home Carers credit of €810. This also allows for the ‘home carer’ to earn a small income of up to €5,080 before it starts to affect the credit.

Age Tax Credits

As with rent credits, married couples can claim double the age credit as a single person, even if only one of you is 65 years or older.

The important thing to do with all of these credits is apply for them! We take all the hassle out of getting your taxes sorted – so Apply now and we’ll do all the hard work so you can enjoy flicking through that photo album and reminisce about your big day!

Written by Alexandra Byrne

I’m what you call an all-rounder! Having worked in customer services, accounting and now in marketing, I’m the one who can tie all the pieces of the puzzle together. I’ve a BSc from University of Limerick so I’m analytical, but I also love change! I’m constantly astounded by the lack of awareness we Irish have about our entitlements, and I like spreading the word about tax refunds – so as many people as possible can claim everything they are entitled to.