Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Finance if assistance will be provided to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11004/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that the eligibility criteria for the Single Parent Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) are set out in section 462B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and are available on the Revenue website.

The SPCCC, currently €1,650 per annum, is available to an individual, referred to in the legislation as the “primary claimant” where that individual:-

1. has a qualifying child residing with him or her for more than half the year,

2. is not married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership, and

3. is not jointly assessed with another person for tax purposes or in receipt of the widowed person or surviving civil partner tax credit.

A qualifying child is generally any child who is either born in the tax year or under 18 years of age at the start of the year. Older children may also qualify in certain cases. The child must be in the custody of the individual and maintained by the individual at his or her own expense.

Only one credit is available is respect of any qualifying child, and an individual who is a Primary Claimant in respect of more than one qualifying child can only receive one credit. Where the custody of a child is shared between two individuals, the legislation provides that the Primary Claimant shall be the person in receipt of Child Benefit.  

If the Primary Claimant does not wish to claim SPCCC they may surrender their entitlement to SPCCC to a ‘Secondary Claimant’. In order to receive the SPCCC, a Secondary Claimant must meet the criteria set out at 2 and 3 above and have a qualifying child residing with him or her for more than 100 days in the year.

Therefore in the circumstances raised by the Deputy, only one of the parents of the child may qualify for the SPCCC. The credit may be relinquished by the primary claimant, in this case the mother, to the father subject to the criteria above but this is a decision for the primary claimant to make.

I am further advised that this position has been set out in writing by Revenue to the individual concerned.