Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

The rent tax credit was introduced by the Finance Act 2022 and may be claimed in respect of qualifying rent paid in 2022 and subsequent years to the end of 2025. The value of the credit was €500 for a single person and €1,000 for a jointly assessed couple. For 2024 and 2025, the value of the credit increased to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a jointly assessed couple. The rent tax credit has played a valuable role in providing financial support to renters right across the country. I am informed by Revenue that 313,980 taxpayers, both PAYE and self-assessed taxpayers, claimed the rent tax credit for 2022. Of these, 273,160 taxpayer units benefited from the rent tax credit in that year.

The extent to which a claimant benefits from a tax credit, through a reduced liability or receipt of a refund for overpayment of a tax liability, is determined by their gross tax liability and use of other tax credits and reliefs. Taxpayers who claim the rent tax credit may not benefit from this credit as a result of other reliefs, deductions and tax credits already reducing their net tax liability to nil. To 1 July of this year, the number of claims made by taxpayer units in respect of the rent tax credit are as follows: 307,270 for 2023, 289,700 for 2024 and 73,600 for 2025.

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