Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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380. To ask the Minister for Finance how many applications have been made to the living city initiative; how many successful claimants there have been under the initiative since the scheme was commenced on 5 May 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17068/23]

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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381. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline the range of moneys paid to successful claimants under the living city initiative to date; the average amount paid; the median sum paid under the initiative since its commencement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17069/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 380 and 381 together.

The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a scheme of property tax incentives provided for in sections 372AAA to 372AAD of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. It offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located within ‘Special Regeneration Areas' in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

There are three distinct types of relief available under the Initiative. These are:

- owner-occupier residential relief;

- rented residential relief; and

- commercial or retail relief.

The the LCI scheme was extended for a further five year period to 31 December 2027 in Finance Act 2022. The owner-occupier element of the relief was also enhanced in Finance Act 2022 for new entrants from 1 January 2023. Owner-occupiers may claim the relief over seven years rather than ten. Where they cannot absorb the deduction in-year, claimants will have the ability to carry forward relief up to a maximum of ten years after the expenditure is incurred.

Applications are required to be made to the relevant Local Authority. Revenue obtains information from the Local Authorities in respect to the number of applications received by them. Based on the most recent information received by Revenue, the number of total applications per eligible city since the introduction of the scheme are as follows:

Revenue advise that tt is not possible to break these applications down by year due to the low number of claimants and the need to protect taxpayer confidentiality. It is also not possible, with the data provided to Revenue, to break these applications down into successful and unsuccessful applications.

The Deputy will wish to note that information in relation to the overall cost of the scheme is available on the Revenue website for the years 2013 to 2020, the latest year for which fully analysed data are available, at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/tax-expenditures/property-reliefs.pdf.

The data for the scheme, to the extent that they are available, are set out below:

The estimated tax cost is based on the assumption that the marginal income tax rate of 40 per cent generally applies to income tax  claimants. The actual cost is not available in the tax return data as each taxpayer’s tax liability is computed by reference to all of their taxable income(s) and any applicable allowances, credits or other reliefs. Therefore, a median sum paid is not available.

Data in relation to 2021 will be available in the second half of this year.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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382. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of a help-to-buy scheme application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17090/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme is designed to assist first-time buyers with the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment to live in as their home. It is a condition of the scheme that the applicant is compliant with their tax obligations and has Tax Clearance.

I am advised by Revenue that the HTB application concerned is currently pending as the Income Tax Return for 2022, which is one of the years selected on the HTB application, is outstanding for one of the applicants. In addition, the applicant is also required to have Tax Clearance.

The person concerned should make arrangements to file the outstanding return and apply for Tax Clearance online via Revenue’s MyAccount. Once the Statement of Liability for 2022 has issued and Tax Clearance has been granted the applicants may continue with their HTB application via MyAccount.

Further information on the Help to Buy Scheme can be found on Revenue’s website at: www.revenue.ie/en/property/help-to-buy-incentive/index.aspx