In real time March is only five days away. Wow. Winter is going fast. It has also been freakishly mild. I suspect March will come in like a lamb meaning it should go out like a lion. Maybe that will mean at least one more opportunity to cross country ski at the park. Maybe not. Probably just wind and cold rain. Phooey.
March 7th is going to be another first year milestone. March 7, 2016 was my first day back at school. Soon I will have been an employed, low vision person for a whole year! This time last year I was not sure it was possible.
Sometimes we just have to practice what we preach. I told a little guy today I never get angry at my students for getting a wrong answer, but I could promise him I would be angry if he did not try. No matter what the outcome, we all have to try. That includes the big people.
The beginning of March also tells me I need to get it in gear and get my stuff together for the accountant. It’s tax time!
The United States and many other countries – I just found information on Ireland; perfect for the month of St. Patrick’s Day – have special tax breaks for the blind. In the USA you qualify if you have a field of vision of 20 degrees or less or if you have 20/200 vision or less with best correction. In Ireland people qualify if they have 6/60 central visual acuity in the better eye with best correction or a visual field of 20 degrees of arc or less. They sound similar but you should check and see what the rules are where you are.
Remember the American law allows you to deduct what you spend to prevent, diagnose or treat an illness or medical condition. That includes costs related to your blindness or visual impairment. Disability associated items include all sorts of things. For example, they include feeding and grooming your guide dog! Same in Ireland as long as you have a certificate from the Irish Guide Dog Association.
Hold on to your certificate once you claim because the Irish tax people can ask for it any time over the following six years. Also in Ireland you can get the VAT (value added tax) refunded on purchases of aids and appliances. Hold on to those receipts, too.
In Tax Tips for the Blind, the TurboTax people say that even if you do not make enough that you are required to file, you can get a ‘hefty refund’ in the form of earned income tax credits. Do I know enough to explain that? Absolutely not.
Which is the reason that again this year we want to remind you there are qualified professions – or soon to be professionals – available to help you with your taxes. The InFernal Revenue System (auto correct is no fun! I tried three times to write ‘infernal’ and it would not let me! I kept getting ‘internal’ ::grin::) offers links to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly.
Ireland? Wish I could have found something for you but my search engine was not cooperative. I would suspect that calling the local tax office would get you some info. Let us know. Maybe we can use the information. You do know, I assume, that here in America, on St. Patrick’s Day, EVERYONE is Irish! Just don’t ask us to file there, too!
Lin/Linda here: The RNIB in the UK offers free tax advice, click here for more information. I don’t know if this applies to Ireland or not. There is a branch of the RNIB for Northern Ireland, click here for more information. I don’t know if they have similar services but you could check.