Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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72. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of applications that were made under the home renovation incentive scheme; the amount that was awarded in value added tax returns; and the number of homes renovated under this scheme. [26536/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Home Renovation Incentive was introduced in Budget 2014. The scheme came into operation on 25 October 2013 and will run until 31 December 2015. The incentive provides tax relief for homeowners by way of a tax credit at 13.5% of qualifying expenditure incurred on repair, renovation or improvement work carried out on a principal private residence. In Budget 2015 I extended the scheme to include rental properties, whose owners are subject to income tax. 

Qualifying works are works which are subject to the 13.5% VAT rate. These works must cost a minimum of €4,405 (exclusive of VAT) which will attract a tax credit of €595.  Where the cost of the work exceeds €30,000 (exclusive of VAT), a maximum credit of €4,050 will apply. The credit is payable over the two years following the year in which the work is carried out. There is no VAT relief under this scheme.

Data relating to the Home Renovation Incentive is available from the statistics section of the Revenue website at . In particular, the data which the Deputy seeks is available in the Tax Expenditures section of the page at .

It should be noted that the value of the tax credits referred to therein is not reflective of the cost to the Exchequer as not all credits have been claimed to date. Furthermore, it should be noted that tax credits claimed by an individual are split evenly over a two year period.