Rent Tax Credit
What is the Rent Tax Credit?
The new Rent Tax Credit is available for the tax years 2022 to 2025. The Rent Tax Credit reduces the amount of Income Tax that you are due to pay for a tax year.
To benefit from the Rent Tax Credit, you must have an Income Tax liability to offset against it.
The amount of Rent Tax Credit you can claim will be calculated for you when you submit your claim. This amount will depend on the amount of:
- rent you pay, and
- Income Tax you pay.
Rent means the amount you pay for use of the property. It does not include any amount you pay for extra services such as utilities, board or laundry. You should exclude any amount you pay for these services when calculating the rent you pay.
The maximum value of the Rent Tax Credit is €1,000 per year for jointly assessed married couples or civil partners. The maximum value is €500 in all other cases, including single persons. This is the case no matter how many properties you pay rent for during the year.
Subject to a number of conditions, the Rent Tax Credit may be available where you pay rent for:
- your principal private residence
- another property you use to facilitate your attendance at work or on an approved course, or
- a property used by your child to facilitate their attendance on an approved course.
The conditions which apply relate to the:
- location and use of the rental property
- type of tenancy
- relationship between you, or your child, and the landlord, and
- age of your child and the type of course they are attending, where relevant.
Who is eligible to claim the Rent Tax Credit?
There are several conditions which must be met for all claims of the Rent Tax Credit.
Formal claim
Your claim must relate to rental payments which were due and were paid during the relevant tax year. You should provide as much information about your rental arrangement as possible when making a claim. You should also retain all records related to your rental arrangement so that you can provide them to Revenue if requested.
Tenancy
The payment must have been made under a tenancy. A tenancy must have been entered into with the consent of the landlord.
Certain tenancies must be registered with the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB). This includes Student Specific Accommodation (SSA) provided by universities, colleges or private sector organisations. If this registration is not complete, the claimant will not be eligible for the Rent Tax Credit. The RTB website sets out full details of the various tenancy types and conditions required for registration.
In certain cases, the Rent Tax Credit applies for tenancies which do not need to be registered with the RTB. This includes ‘rent-a-room’ or ‘digs’ type arrangements.
However, the Rent Tax Credit will not be available for ‘rent-a-room’ or ‘digs’ type arrangements if:
- you and the landlord are related, or
- you are paying rent on behalf of your child.
Property
The property concerned must be a residential property located in the State. A residential property for this purpose may be an entire property or selected rooms within a property.
Supported tenant
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if you are a ‘supported tenant’. This means you cannot be in receipt of state housing support such as:
- the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)
- Rent Supplement, or
- Rental Accommodation Schemes (RAS).
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit even if you are required to make a ‘top-up’ payment in excess of a payment received from a state support scheme.
Members of the Oireachtas who receive an allowance under section 836 TCA 1997 cannot claim as they are deemed to be a ‘supported tenant’. However, they can claim where they make a payment in respect of their own principal private residence.
Landlord
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if your landlord is a Housing Association or Approved Housing Body.
Further conditions
As well as the conditions above, some further conditions apply to your claim for Rent Tax Credit, depending on the category of your rental arrangement. Please see below for information on these further conditions.
Further conditions where property is used as a principle private residence
The Rent Tax Credit is available where you pay rent in respect of your principal private residence. A property is your principal private residence if it is the sole place of residence available to you.
In addition to the conditions outlined in the Qualifying conditions for all claimants page, the conditions below must be satisfied.
Relationship with landlord
The Rent Tax Credit is not available if you and the landlord are parent and child, or vice versa.
Where you and the landlord are related, the Rent Tax Credit may still be available but only where:
- the tenancy is of a type which is required to be registered with the RTB, and
- the landlord has complied with any such registration requirement.
Further conditions where property is used as a second home
The Rent Tax Credit may be available on your second home if it meets certain conditions. A property is considered to be your second home if you have another place of residence available to you.
In addition to the conditions outlined in the Qualifying conditions for all claimants page, the conditions must be satisfied.
Relationship with landlord
The Rent Tax Credit is not available if you and the landlord are parent and child, or vice versa.
Where you and the landlord are related, the credit may still be available but only where:
- the tenancy is of a type which is required to be registered with the RTB, and
- the landlord has complied with any such registration requirement.
Use of property
The use of your second home must be to facilitate your participation in:
- your employment
- your office holding
- your trade
- your profession, or
- an approved course.
Please see Approved list of colleges and courses to check if your course qualifies for the Rent Tax Credit. The property concerned must also be a residential property located in the State.
Further conditions where property is used by your child
Parents who pay rent for their children may be entitled to claim the Rent Tax Credit.
In addition to the conditions outlined in the Qualifying conditions for all claimants section, the conditions below must be satisfied.
Use of property
The property must be used by your child specifically to facilitate his or her attendance at an approved course.
An approved course for this credit has the same meaning as for tax relief for third level tuition fees. Please see Approved list of college courses to check if your child’s course qualifies for Rent Tax Credit. The property concerned must also be a residential property located in the State.
The property must be the child’s principal private residence during term time. You can still claim the Rent Tax Credit if your child returns to the family home outside of term time. This may include:
- weekends, or
- other times outside of semester terms.
Relationship with landlord
The Rent Tax Credit is not available if you or your child and the landlord are related in any way. This means that you cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if there is any family relationship between the parties. This includes relationships such as:
- parent and child
- grandparent and grandchild
- sibling
- aunt or uncle and niece or nephew.
Type of tenancy
Where you are paying rent on behalf of your child, the Rent Tax Credit will only be available where the tenancy is:
- of a type which is required to be registered with the RTB, and
- the landlord has complied with any such registration requirement.
This means that the Rent Tax Credit will not be available where the tenancy is of a type which is exempt from RTB registration. This includes a ‘rent-a-room’ or a ‘digs’ type arrangement. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) website sets out full details of the various tenancy types and conditions required for registration.
Age of child
The child must have been under 23 at the start of the tax year in which he or she first commenced an approved course for the rent tax credit to apply.
How much can you claim?
The Rent Tax Credit reduces the amount of Income Tax that you are due to pay for a tax year.
To benefit from the Rent Tax Credit, you must have an Income Tax liability to offset against it. The credit does not provide relief against Universal Social Charge (USC) or Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).
If the credit due exceeds your Income Tax liability, you will not be able to fully utilise the credit.
Tax relief is granted at 20%. The maximum amount you can be refunded, from the Rent Tax Credit, is:
- €1,000 for a jointly assessed couple, or
- €500 for all other cases.
If the rent tax credit exceeds your Income Tax liability, you can only receive a partial refund. This refund would be equal to your total Income Tax liability for the year.
How do I claim the Rent Tax Credit?
To claim the Single Parent Tax Credit, just fill in our Full Review Form. This form will provide us with the details necessary to file the tax return(s) in which we can claim tax Rent Tax Credit, along with any additional tax credits you might be due for the last 4 years.
Alternatively, you can fill out our Quick Review Form, and contact us upon completion informing us of the tax credit(s) you are looking to claim.
If you are not entitled to the Rent Tax Credit, but would still like us to review your taxes, just complete our 50-second Quick Review Form.