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A warning has being issued from Revenue about another fraudulent email scam. The email supposedly from the Irish Revenue Commissioners has being sent to many taxpayers advising they may be eligible to receive a tax refund. The email requests personal details including date of birth and credit/debit card details. The Revenue have again clarified that they never send emails requesting customers personal details by email or pop-up windows. Revenue has advised anyone that has already given personal information to these emails should contact their credit card companies and bank immediately. For further information see the Security warning on the revenue website.

When it comes to planning for retirement, most people find the idea really daunting. It doesn’t have to be complicated though. A pension can be a straightforward and tax efficient way of investing in your future.

Why invest in your retirement fund/pension?
A pension otherwise known as retirement funding, is a long term savings plan which is designed to give you an income when you stop working. Substantial tax reliefs apply, which alone are the most important aspect of them. Quite simply, a pension is a long term savings plan which is designed to give you an income when you stop working.

And the sooner you start to invest, the bigger your retirement fund is likely to be.

Tax relief on your contribution
The government offers generous tax and PRSI relief on your pension contributions, based on your highest rate of tax. So if you were to invest, say, €10,000 a month, it could actually cost you as little as €5,900 assuming you pay tax at 41%.

Your money grows tax free until you retire.
And when you retire you have the option to take a tax-free lump sum of up to 25% of your retirement fund.

“Tax relief on the way in, and up to 25% tax-free on the way out. Who said pension planning was taxing?”

Paycheck Plus now have an associate Qualified Financial Advisor, who can help you set up a pension scheme for your employees. Read more

Contact Paycheck Plus today and we will arrange a meeting for you with our associate QFA who will advise you of the best Pension Scheme options for your employees.

All employers are required by law to provide access to a pension for all employees whether they are in full time, part-time, temporary, contract or casual employment. If there is no in-house scheme, or there are restrictions on entry, contribution amounts or benefits, then a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) must be offered by law. Failure to comply is a criminal offence and could result in a fine of up to €12,700 and/or up to 2 years imprisonment. The employer may contribute to the PRSA if they wish, but are not obliged to do so. The employer is obliged to allow employees time to explore the PRSA in-depth and discuss their scheme with an advisor during paid working hours.

Providing a Company pension, or occupational pensions scheme is a tax-efficient savings plan put in place by the employer to provide a retirement income for employees. The employee pays less PAYE and PRSI on their relevant earnings. In effect this means that for every €100 contributed to a pension scheme by the employee the net cost, as a higher rate tax payer is €100 less €41 for PAYE and €8 for PRSI and Health Levy, which means the actual cost is only €51.00.

The advantage for the employer is that the Employer PRSI is also reduced by the €100, so the employer PRSI is reduced by up to 10.75% or €10.75, which more than covers the administration costs. It is therefore to your advantage as the employer to encourage your employees to recognise the benefits available to them from Revenue as they make a contribution towards their retirement. A useful pension calculator is available at www.pensionsboard.ie

Following on from our payslip blog posted earlier this year, I have come across an interesting article on the independent.ie website dated 16/09/09, which shows the consequences of an employer not providing payslips to their employees. In this case the employer “ was fined €750 plus costs, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to produce payslips as requested by Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny’’

The issue came to light when the employee requested his payslips, after realising that the deductions made to his wages for his pension “had not being remitted to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme” When the employer failed to produce the payslips as requested by the ombudsman, he was summonsed to the court hearing.

Under the Payment of Wages Act 1991, it’s a compulsory requirement that a payslip detailing the gross amount of pay and nature and amount of any deductions is issued to every employee with every payment. In the case of credit transfers, the payslip should be issued as soon as possible after the transfer takes place.