Information

Revenue Job Assist is an additional tax allowance for people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more and who are now returning to employment. An extra tax allowance can be claimed for each qualifying child (see below). The tax allowance can be claimed for 3 tax years and may begin with either the tax year in which the employment commences or the following tax year. The scheme is an alternative to existing employment schemes and you cannot claim these tax allowances if you are participating in another employment scheme.

Rules

You may qualify for Revenue Job Assist (RJA) if you are unemployed for 12 months or more* and you are:

• Getting Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment, Disability Allowance, Blind Person’s Pension or Invalidity Pension for 12 months or more
• Getting Illness Benefit for 3 years or more
• Released after 12 months or more in prison.
• Signing for PRSI credits (since 1 January 2012)

*Time spent on Community Employment, Job Initiative, certain FÁS courses or the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA), provided you were getting one of the above payments immediately before starting BTEA, may count towards the period of unemployment required.

The job you are taking up must:

• Be for a minimum of 30 hours a week
• Be capable of lasting at least 12 months.

You can find more details in the explanatory leaflet, Revenue Job Assist IT58 – information for employees.

Revenue Job Assist only applies if you are taking up a job and does not apply if you are becoming self-employed. It can only be set against income from the new job that you have taken up. You can change jobs once and retain the balance of the credit. The tax allowance can be claimed irrespective of your marital status.

Qualifying child

A qualifying child is a child of yours, who is living with you for all or part of the tax year, and who is:

• Under 18 years of age or
• Over 18 years and in full-time education or training as an apprentice where the training is for at least 2 years or
• Incapacitated either physically or mentally, having become so either while undergoing full-time education or while under 21 years of age.

Two people can claim for the same child but only one allowance can be claimed for each qualifying child in any year. If 2 people are entitled to claim for the same child, the allowance is split between them as follows:

• Where the child is maintained by 1 person only, that person gets the allowance
• Where the child is maintained jointly by 1 or more people, the credit is split either in the same proportion as they each maintain the child or in a manner they jointly decide on.

Keeping secondary benefits

In addition to the special tax allowance, under Revenue Job Assist, you can keep your medical card for 3 years from the date of return to work. You can also retain other secondary benefits, such as Fuel Allowance, for 3 years, provided your weekly income is less than €317.43. However the amount of Rent Supplement you get may be reduced.

Employer’s tax deduction

Employers who employ people who qualify for Revenue Job Assist can make a double deduction of the employee’s wages from their company’s taxable income for up to 3 years provided that the employee remains with them. This means that double the amount of the wages of a qualifying employee and double the amount of the employer’s PRSI contribution for that employee can be deducted by the employer from the company’s taxable income.

Example:
An employee who started work in January 2011 is paid €350 a week, (€18,200 a year) and qualifies for Revenue Job Assist. If that employee continues to work for the employer until the end of 2013, the employer can reduce his taxable income by double the amount of the employee’s wages and double the amount of employer’s PRSI as follows:

So in 2011 under Revenue Job Assist the company’s taxable income may be reduced by €39,494. In 2012 and 2013 it may be reduced by €37,947 each year. This would come to a total tax deduction of €115,388. You can find further information in the leaflet, Revenue Job Assist IT59 – information for employers.

Employer’s PRSI exemption: If you take on extra employees under the Revenue Job Assist scheme in 2012, you may qualify for the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme for up to 18 months.

Rates

The Revenue Job Assist allowances are at your highest rate of tax and appear as an increase to your tax credits as follows:

How to apply

You apply by completing Part 1 of form RJA1 (pdf). This form is also available from your local tax office. Part 2 of the form must completed by your employer and the completed form should be sent to your local tax office.