Know Your Parent Tax Benefits: Part Three – Women Returning To Work.

To make sure you don’t miss out on a penny, we’ve teamed up with NM Group, a professional services firm specialising in finance, tax, and legal, to help us put together a concise, 3-part guide explaining exactly what tax benefits are available to you as a parent and how you can claim them.

In part three of our Parent Tax Benefits guide, we’re looking into the financial incentives available to women who are returning to work after having a child. These tax exemptions can make you better off by a substantial amount, so make sure you are registered to benefit from them!

In order to make it easier for women to return back to work after having a child, the Government has introduced various financial incentives. As a result, women who return back to employment or self-employment after having a child may benefit from the following:

• EITHER a tax credit of a maximum of €2,000, to be utilized within a period of 2 years, starting from the year in which the woman would have returned back to employment.
• OR An exemption equivalent to the tax paid by the woman in the year of her return to work, subject to a maximum capping of €5,000.  This applies to women whose tax burden during the year of return to employment would have exceeded €2,000.

Those who may benefit from the above-mentioned fiscal incentives, are:

• Women who have children under 16 years of age and who have returned to work after the 1^st of January 2014, after being absent from work for 5 years or more.
• OR women who had children after the 1^st January 2007 and had continued or returned back to work in their employment on or after this date.

For women returning to work, specific forms have to be completed & submitted to the tax department with your tax return, depending on which option one is eligible for. To this end, In such instances, it is always advisable  to take the advice of a professional, to assist you in completing the necessary documentation.

As new parents, we might not be able to take a break, but at least we can make sure we’re getting any tax breaks we’re entitled to. It’s important to note that finances should be examined on a case-by-case basis and this 3-part series functions as a general guide. If you’d like further advice on the parent tax benefits, or any other financial guidance specific to your circumstances, NM Group can help.