January 2012
Pensioners with tax and social welfare concerns on foot of recent communications from the Revenue Commissioners should drop in to their local Citizens Information Service, call CIPS on 0761 07 4000 or log on to citizensinformation.ie.
Most social welfare payments are taxable. However, if a social welfare pension is a person's only source of income that person will not pay tax on that pension.
Pensioners who receive a social welfare payment and also have another source of income, such as a pension from work, may be liable to pay tax. Both sources of income are added together to determine whether tax is payable or not.
People aged over 65
If your total income is less than €18,000 as a single person or €36,000 as a married couple or civil partners, then you are exempt from income tax. If your total income is greater than this, then you may be liable for tax.
People aged under 65
If you have a taxable social welfare payment, such as Jobseeker's Benefit or Invalidity Pension, you may be liable for tax if you have another source of income such as an occupational pension from your work or your spouse or civil partner's earnings.
The exemption limits above do not apply to people under 65 years of age.
If you have any concerns in relation to your tax liability contact your local Citizens Information Centre. A full list of all nationwide centres is available at citizensinformation.ie. The website also has information and links to all relevant sites in relation to this topic.
http://whatsnew.citizensinformation.ie/2012/01/09/tax-and-social-welfare-payments/
