Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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245. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason applicants reclaiming the personal tax credit in 2016 and 2017 following work done in their home under the home renovation incentive is conditional upon applying online as the Revenue commissioners are not accepting applications in writing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36334/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Home Renovation Incentive was designed to be easy to apply for. Contractors can enter details of works carried out in the same manner as they already submit their tax returns, and homeowners can view details of the credit they will receive through PAYE anytime. The amount of credit due accumulates automatically as each set of works is carried out and the associated application is entered. In addition, this method of application was designed to support fully tax compliant builders and move activity out of the shadow economy into the legitimate economy, as all expenditure and relief claims have to be registered electronically. In order to provide further support for both individuals and contractors applying under the HRI, a number of guides and videos were published on the Revenue website to demonstrate the process necessary.

As of 30 September 2015, 37,992 works, carried out on 27,422 properties by 6,117 contractors have been registered on the system. To administer these claims through paper based applications would impose significant administration difficulties for Revenue.

The figures show that a number of properties have had several different qualifying works carried out, meaning that homeowners and contractors would have to complete several different applications for the credit under a paper based system. The provision of a central online register for such works means that the value of the tax relief available can be cumulated automatically for the benefit of the taxpayer.