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  Revenue Next Generation Offline Applications: Frequently Asked Questions
 
 
   Click on a question to jump to the answer
 
 

General Questions
  What are the system requirements for these applications?
  How do I download these applications?
  How do I run applications once I have downloaded them?
  Why do I have to save these applications to my PC?
  How do I use the “updates” that appear at the bottom-right of my screen?
  How do I close/exit an application?
  After I have closed an application, how do I open it again?
  How do I uninstall an application?
  Why do I get an odd message when I uninstall an application?
 
 

Health Expenses Offline Application Questions
  Why can I not claim relief for health expenses incurred in 2006 using the PAYE health expenses application?
  When submitting or calculating gross relief due, I am told that I cannot continue online, why is this?
  Why do I get different pop-ups when submitting?
  Why do I have to keep the receipts for my health expenses for six years?
  Do health expenses claimed in the offline application appear in the PAYE Anytime online application?
 
   

What are the system requirements for these applications?

  
    It is necessary for your computer to meet some requirements in order to run these offline applications. A list of these requirements can be found at the following website: http://www.adobe.com/products/air/systemreqs/ Top of page Top
   

How do I download these applications?

 
   
  1. Go to http://www.ros.ie
  2. Click “Login to ROS” >> Click “Downloads” >> Click on the “Go” button under the heading “Next Generation Offline Applications”
  3. Click on the icon of the application that you wish to download
  4. A pop-up will appear and you will be presented with the choice to “Save” or “Open” or “Cancel”, click “Open”
  5. Click “Install” in the subsequent pop-up
  6. If you would like an icon on your desktop from which you can open the application, leave the “Add shortcut icon to my desktop” box ticked, otherwise untick this box
  7. By default, the application will be downloaded to "C:\Program Files", but if you would like to change this folder you can choose the desired folder by typing the path, or browsing to the location, of the folder in the “Installation Location” field
  8. Once you are happy with these settings, click “Continue”
  9. The application will take a few seconds to download, once it has downloaded, the pop-up will disappear and the application will run automatically.
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How do I run applications once I have downloaded them?

 
    When you first download an application, it will run automatically once the download is complete. Otherwise, you can right-click on the Revenue icon in the system tray that is usually found in the bottom-right corner of your screen (Mac users can ctrl + click on the dock icon), hover the mouse over “Open” and then select the relevant application. You can also open an application by clicking on the “Open” button in the notification window that appears in the bottom-right of the screen. This notification window appears when there is a significant date relating to the application(s) you have installed approaching.

If the icon is not present in the system tray (or dock, for Mac users), you can open the application by either:
  • Browsing to its location on your computer. The default location is “C:\Program Files\Revenue Desktop” for Windows users and the “Applications” folder for Mac users. Double-clicking on the “Revenue Desktop” application file will open the application or
  • Going to the Revenue Desktop program via the Start menu on your desktop.
You will notice the icon appear in the system tray (or dock, for Mac users). The application is in “background” mode. To make changes to the information in the applications you have downloaded right-click (ctrl + click, for Mac users) on the system tray icon (dock icon, for Mac users), hover the mouse over “Open” and then select the relevant application. 		Top of page Top
   

Why do I have to save these applications to my PC?

 
    These applications are saved and run from your computer. An Internet connection is only needed when submitting information to Revenue. This enables you to save information about your tax affairs without uploading them to the Internet. The information that you submit is only sent to Revenue at the time of submission. Top of page Top
   

How do I use the “updates” that appear at the bottom-right of my screen?

 
    A notification window appears at the bottom-right of the screen when there is an update available for one of the applications you have installed. If you click on an update, information is displayed and you are provided with options to either “Update” or “Dismiss” the update. Clicking “Update” will update the version of the relevant application. Clicking “Dismiss” will remove the update permanently and it will never reappear. Failure to have the most up-to-date version of an application may result in you not being able to use the application in the future. Top of page Top
   

How do I close/exit an application?

 
    The green button with the X at the top right of the application will close the application.

Closing the application will run the application in “background” mode. In this mode, you will still receive alerts and will be able to open the application from the system tray (dock, for Mac users). To exit the application completely (doing this will remove the icon from the system tray, or dock for Mac users, and prevent any alerts) right-click on the system tray icon and choose “Exit”. Mac users should right-click (ctrl + click) on the icon in the dock and click the option “Exit”. 		Top of page Top
   

After I have closed an application, how do I open it again?

 
    To re-open a closed application, Windows users should right-click on the system tray icon, hover the mouse over “Open” and then select the relevant application. Mac users should ctrl + click on the icon in the dock hover the mouse over “Open” and then select the relevant application. Top of page Top
   

How do I uninstall an application?

 
   
  • You can uninstall an individual application by right-clicking (ctrl + click, for Mac users) on the system tray icon (dock icon, for Mac users), hover the mouse over “Uninstall” and then select the relevant application.
  • To completely remove the Revenue Desktop from your computer, Windows users should follow these steps:
    1. Click on your computer’s “Start” menu button (usually found at the bottom-left on the screen
    2. Navigate to “Control Panel”
    3. Choose “Add or Remove programs”
    4. Find the “Revenue Desktop” application in the subsequent list
    5. Click “Remove”
    6. If you are currently running the application, a pop-up will appear that may have odd lettering. This is an issue with Adobe Air that is being investigated (Note: this issue is in no way harmful to your computer). The pop-up is telling you that the application is currently running and that it is necessary for you to exit the application before removing the application from your computer. To continue:
      1. Right-click on the system tray icon and choose “Exit”
      2. Click “Retry” on the pop-up
    7. The application is now entirely removed from your computer.
  • To completely remove the Revenue Desktop from your computer, Mac users should follow these steps:
    1. Open “Finder”
    2. Click on “Go” in the menu bar at the top of the screen
    3. Click “Applications”
    4. Ctrl + click on “Revenue Desktop.app”
    5. Select “Move to Trash”
    6. The application is now entirely removed from your computer.
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Why do I get an odd message when I uninstall an application?

 
    If you are currently running the application, a pop-up will appear that may have odd lettering. This is an issue with Adobe Air that is being investigated (Note: this issue is in no way harmful to your computer). The pop-up is telling you that the application is currently running and that it is necessary for you to exit the application before removing the application from your computer. To continue:
  1. Right-click on the system tray icon and choose “Exit”
  2. Click “Retry” on the pop-up
  3. The application is now entirely removed from your computer
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Why can I not claim relief for health expenses incurred in 2006 using the PAYE health expenses application?

 
    2006 is excluded from the offline application. Health expenses incurred in 2006 can be submitted via the PAYE Anytime application or the appropriate paper forms (Med 1 and/or Med 2) that can be found at http://www.ros.ie. Top of page Top
   

When submitting or calculating gross relief due, I am told that I cannot continue online, why is this?

 
    Limits have been placed on the amounts that can be claimed electronically. Large health expenses claims must be submitted using the Med 1 form (medical and nursing home expenses) and/or the Med 2 form (dental expenses). These can be found at http://www.ros.ie. Top of page Top
   

Why do I get different pop-ups when submitting?

 
    The pop-ups that appear when submitting health expenses depend on the information that Revenue has on-file for you and the information that you have entered into the PAYE health expenses offline application.
A nursing home pop-up will appear if you have included a claim in the category of “Nursing Home”; this pop-up will requests additional information about the expense.

The authentication pop-up will appear every time you submit health expenses; this pop-up requests identity information, for example, your PPS number.

If Revenue doesn’t have pay and/or tax details on-file for you for the year for which you are submitting health expenses, then you will be presented with a pay and tax pop-up that requests that you provide this information before completing the submission. 		Top of page Top
   

Why do I have to keep the receipts for my health expenses for six years?

 
    Please ensure that you only claim for amounts for which you hold receipts. Please do not send in the receipts to Revenue with your claim. However, you must keep the receipts for a period of 6 years as you may be asked to send them in if your claim is chosen for a detailed examination. Top of page Top
   

Do health expenses claimed here appear in the PAYE Anytime online application?

 
    If you submit health expenses using the offline application, you can check the status of that submission in the PAYE Anytime application by going to “Your Request History” and checking the “Request History” and “Pending Requests” tabs.

If you submit health expenses through the offline application and then submit through the PAYE Anytime application (or vice versa), the second submission overwrites the first submission. If a review has already been conducted and a repayment has been made based on the first submission, only the difference is taken into account between the two. 		Top of page Top
 


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