Early filing - immediate payment

A. A common myth is that once your tax return is filed that you also have to pay any tax owed. 

The truth is, even if you file your tax return early with the Revenue Commissioners, you are only obliged to pay any tax liability by the normal due date of 31 October, which is extended to 10 November 2016 for 2015 tax returns if paying and filing online using the Revenue Online Services (ROS).

On the flip side of this, if you are owed a refund then if you file your tax return early your refund should be processed soon after. That means the money could be sat in your bank account earning interest sooner.  If you wait until October, refunds usually take longer to be issued as Revenue staff and systems can be overwhelmed at this time

Date published 18 Aug 2016

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.