Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Rent Tax Credit, as provided for in section 473B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997), was introduced by Finance Act 2022 and is available in respect of qualifying payments made during the 2022 to 2025 years of assessment inclusive.

Claims for the Rent Tax Credit for the 2022 tax year can only be made by completing an Income Tax Return. To date, over 260,000 PAYE taxpayers have made Rent Tax Credit claims for the 2022 tax year. For self-assessed taxpayers, the Rent Tax Credit for 2022 is claimed when filing the Income Tax Return, due on 31 October 2023, through the Revenue Online Service (ROS). Revenue statistics for the 2022 tax year covering all taxpayers will be available in Q2 2024.

For claims relating to the 2023 year of assessment onwards, PAYE taxpayers could claim in-year relief using Revenue’s Real Time Credit facility on myAccount, or by completing an Income Tax Return after the end of the year. Both options are available to taxpayers through Revenue’s on-line facilities.

I am advised by Revenue that, to date, over 130,000 claims for Rent Tax Credit have been made by PAYE taxpayers for the 2023 tax year. It is expected that the number of claims for 2023 will continue to increase, particularly in the first quarter of 2024, as PAYE taxpayers file their Income Tax Returns after the end of the year.

In addition, however, it should be noted that Section 865 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 allows claims for a year of assessment to be made within 4 years of 31 December of that year. Therefore, taxpayers have until 31 December 2026 to claim the Rent Tax Credit for 2022 and until 31 December 2027 to claim for 2023.

I am advised by Revenue that it is not practicable to provide accurate month by month figures in respect of Rent Tax Credit claimants. Taxpayers may make claims or amendments to claims for tax credits at any time within the 4-year limit mentioned above for a variety of reasons. These may include where a taxpayer changes tenancy or, in the case of an Income Tax Return amendment, for a reason unrelated to the Rent Tax Credit. It would be difficult to account for all scenarios in respect of these amendments to ensure the accurate compilation of monthly figures. I am further advised by Revenue that trends in monthly figures are strongly influenced by Income Tax Return filing dates.

The figures that are provided below are point-in-time estimates on a tax year basis, based on previously reported figures compiled during 2023, as well as the latest available figures in January 2024.

Rent Tax Credit claims are made are on a ‘taxpayer unit’ basis. A taxpayer unit is either an individual with any personal status who is singly assessed or a couple in a marriage or civil partnership who have elected for joint assessment.

The Rent Tax Credit is intended to provide assistance to those in the private rented residential sector pending further progress on the Government's Housing for All strategy. Finance Act 2023 increased this credit to €750 per year (or up to €1,500 for jointly assessed couples) for years 2024 and 2025.

The operation of the Rent Tax Credit will continue to be closely monitored by my Department in conjunction with Revenue.