So here we are again, digging around for eligible receipts to reduce our upcoming tax bill. Sometimes in the rush to complete the tax return on time, valuable tax-saving opportunities are missed. So here are a few ways for you to reduce your upcoming bill.

Pension contributions attract marginal rate tax relief

Particularly if you are a higher rate tax payer, it really is hard to beat a pension contribution or an Additional Voluntary Contribution to your company pension scheme. Pension contributions are one of the few remaining routes to gaining tax relief at the higher rate of tax. Yes, it takes a payment to access the tax relief, but this is a down payment on your future lifestyle. Think of it as a tax efficient investment in your own future. It’s important too to remember that there are several tax breaks associated with pensions,

1. Your contributions qualify for marginal (higher) rate tax relief within certain limits
2. Your pension fund grows free of all taxes – no DIRT or Exit tax applies
3. You can take a portion of your fund tax-free at retirement, with other tax mitigating strategies available in relation to the balance.

Make sure to claim all eligible medical expenses

Even though relief for medical expenses can only be claimed back at the standard income tax rate of 20%, this relief can really add up. Particularly if there is anyone in the house that is quite regularly unwell or has an ongoing medical condition. It’s important to remember here that you can claim on behalf of all your family members, and indeed in many cases where you are paying someone else’s expenses – for example costs incurred in the care of an elderly parent.

Most expenses are covered including visits to your GP, consultant visits, prescriptions, and physio visits etc. Standard dental costs are not covered, but if you are having major work done such as root canal treatments or crowns, these are included. Check with your dentist, who will be able to guide you as to what is covered.

The process is really simple and from our experience, the best way to manage this is to upload the information and receipts on to the Revenue website throughout the year. This can be done in tandem with health insurance claims, leaving you without a time-consuming exercise as you come up to the tax deadline.

Working from home relief

Now that working from home is so commonplace, you need to understand your eligibility for tax relief on some expenses like light, heat, telephone and broadband. If your employer does not pay you an allowance for your expenses, you can claim relief when completing your tax return. Remote working relief is available for up to 30% of the cost of heating, electricity and broadband for the days spent working from home.

Bike to Work Scheme

This might be considered a bit of a discretionary purchase, but if you want or need a bicycle, make sure you buy it in a tax efficient way. Where your employer “provides” a bicycle and safety equipment for you, you can claim tax relief under the Bike to Work scheme up to the value of €1,250. This is a significant saving as you save tax at your marginal rate, PRSI and USC. Electric bikes that require some assistance from the cyclist also qualify, up to an increased amount of €1,500. And yes, you can qualify even if you are working from home fulltime and you’re not obliged to use the bike every day. You'll also hopefully get fitter in the process too...

And then there’s the rest…

There are numerous other reliefs and exemptions available, some of which may apply to you, so make yourself aware of all of the reliefs available. Whether you’ve kids in college, are renting out a room, you are taking a training course or are commuting on public transport to work, there are potential tax saving opportunities available to you. A little bit of preparation and carefully completing every section in the return just might help you to unlock some significant tax savings.

We all recognise that our taxes pay for our public services, and maybe a little grudgingly are happy to pay our fair share. But there are no awards handed out to people who don't avail of all of the reliefs and credits available. Now is the time to ensure you don't pay more than you need to for 2022.

The word retirement conjures up different thoughts for each of us. Some think of growing old, others think of enjoying life in the sun. Some people think of the need to save money in pensions, others think of finally having that freedom from work and enjoying their financial freedom. Each view is valid, some just a bit more positive than others.

Our view is that retirement is a time to be enjoyed, the reward after many years of work. But like most stages in life, having a plan will help you make the very best of those retirement years, so here are four areas to plan that will help you achieve just that.

Everyday living

If your health is good, this is the most impactful area and is often the one in which the least attention is paid. What will you actually do every day? Yes, you might travel. But this will likely be for one or a few months of the year and maybe just for a couple of years. Yes, you might play golf, but hardly every day. And as someone recently asked a friend of mine who said he’ll play golf every day – what will you do with the rest of the day?

The bottom line here is that between working, commuting, and socialising around work, this likely took up maybe ten hours per day. That’s a lot of time to fill now… There’s a whole other article in how you might fill your time, but for now, we suggest that you just start thinking about how you are going to fill your days. It’s quite daunting but very exciting having all this time available to you. Pan to make the best of it. 

Staying healthy

We started the last section with, “If your health is good”. As we all know, so much of the quality of our retirement hinges on having good health. While some people are just plain unlucky in this regard and are afflicted by poor health through no fault of their own, most of us can have a positive impact on our health in our later years. Having a plan in this regard and the commitment to see it through will likely have an incredible impact on your quality of life.

It starts with planning to fuel the body well. Eating and drinking healthily will improve your health, increase your energy levels and have you looking and feeling better about yourself. You’re not rushing out the door any more, grabbing whatever is handiest to eat. Committing to making that bit of extra effort to prepare healthy food will have a big impact. Who knows, you’ve run out of road now in terms of excuses of not having the time to do that cookery course! Maybe there’s a gourmet chef hidden inside you – now you’ve the time to find out…

And of course, there is exercise. Build positive habits, doing things you enjoy. Whether that walking, playing golf, sailing or going to the gym, build exercise into your routines. You’ll feel better, will have more energy and vitality and will maintain your physical abilities for longer. Also, there are endless articles from august publications online that explain how strength and resistance training help to prevent the onset of dementia in older people.

Exercise is key, so have a clear plan of what you will do and when you will do it.

Financing retirement

We’re just going to touch on this one, as we speak to all our clients all the time about the importance of pension planning. Having money in your latter years gives you more choices and a nicer standard of living. This takes planning to achieve.

We help you to identify the life you want in retirement, and we’ll help you identify how much money you need to live that life. And then we’ll develop a financial plan to make that future life a reality through pension saving. Thankfully this task is made easier by the generous tax breaks available on pensions and the relatively generous state pensions that are payable in Ireland.

But financing the life you want won’t happen by magic. It takes a plan and then commitment over many years.

Leaving your legacy

OK, for some people this one sounds a bit morbid. But we don’t see it that way. Identifying the stamp you’re going to leave on the world, your community or your family around you and how you will share the fruits of your success is exciting and a really uplifting subject. What will you do and how will you do it?

For some people, it will be through their generosity of actions – this might be through charitable work, voluntary time given to a community or sporting organisation or simply through helping others. For other people, it might be through their financial generosity. Either way, they all leave positive memories behind them.

Again though, this requires planning. Without a plan, time will just slip away and good intentions will never happen. And without a plan, financial mistakes will happen and tax efficient opportunities will be missed, reducing your funds available.

Retirement is a time of life to be enjoyed. But to make the most of it, plan out each aspect of your life and then go and live your life to the full.