Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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111. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated number of taxpayers who are eligible to claim the rent tax credit; the number of renters who have claimed the tax credit in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38544/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Rent Tax Credit (RTC), as provided for in section 473B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997), was introduced by the Finance Act 2022 and may be claimed in respect of qualifying rent paid in 2022 and subsequent years to end-2025.

I am informed by Revenue that they are unable to prepare estimates of the numbers of taxpayers who are eligible to claim the RTC, as the data available to Revenue in respect of taxpayers do not include information on rental status or rental payments. However, during the Budget 2023 process my Department estimated that some 400,000 persons may have been eligible to claim the credit.

313,980 taxpayer units claimed the RTC for 2022. The extent to which a claimant benefits from a tax credit, through a reduced tax liability and/or receipt of a refund for overpayment of a tax liability, is determined by their gross tax liability and use of other tax credits and reliefs. These numbers includes both PAYE and self-assessed taxpayer units. 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, in which case they are counted as one taxpayer unit.

I am further informed by Revenue that 273,160 taxpayer units benefited from the RTC for 2022, as set out in Revenue’s ‘Cost of Tax Expenditures’ publication which is available on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statistics/tax-expenditures/costs-expenditures.aspx.

It should be noted that tax refunds can be requested within four years after the end of the tax year to which the claim relates. Eligible persons may not claim the RTC in respect of 2022 until 2026, if at all.

In relation to later years, I am advised by Revenue that the RTC statistics provided in the table below refer only to claims by PAYE taxpayers for 2023 and 2024 to-date. The data on claims by self-assessed taxpayers are not yet available for 2023 and 2024. Most claims for credits by PAYE taxpayers take place after the year-end, and it is expected that the bulk of claims for 2024 will not be made until 2025.

The below table outlines the number of claims by PAYE taxpayers, by year of assessment for 2023 and 2024, as of 24 September 2024.