Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed there. I will make a few points on the numbers first of all, because that was raised. It is the case that when the tax credit was introduced in the budget last year, budget 2023, it was estimated that 400,000 individual persons would be eligible to claim the rent tax credit for 2022, and that the same figure was estimated for 2024, namely, 400,000 eligible individuals. However, rent tax credit claims are made on a taxpayer unit basis, so the numbers are not directly comparable. A taxpayer unit is either an individual with any personal status who is singly assessed, or a couple in a marriage or civil partnership who have elected for joint assessment. Using that metric, I would not expect to see 400,000 taxpayer units claim the rent tax credit at any point.

It is important to say that people have four years to make the claim. In respect of 2022, people have until the end of 2026 and should be reminded of that. Also, the numbers do not yet take account of self-assessed taxpayers for 2022, as that information is not available yet, as we have returns that would have just come in there in the past number of weeks. I remind people who may be eligible that for claims relating to the current year, PAYE taxpayers who are eligible for the rent tax credit have the option of claiming the rent tax credit due to them either throughout the year, as the rent is incurred, or at the end of the year, through their income tax return. As such, while taxpayers can claim for the credit during the year, many may wish to wait until the end of the year to do so. It is relatively straightforward to make the claim. It can be done through the online myAccount system. Every single week, people are logging on and making the claim. I would expect the numbers to continue to increase. Certainly, as the awareness campaign is rolled out, we will see more and more people make their claim.

See this speech in context