Thousands of people in Ireland entitled to once-off…

Thousands of people in Ireland entitled to once-off €500 cash boost available online now

Many people who claimed their €500 boost in the form of a Rent Credit last year have yet to apply for their 2023 sum.

The new Rent Tax Credit is available for the tax years 2022 to 2025 and reduces the amount of Income Tax that you are due to pay for a tax year.

The amount of Rent Tax Credit you can claim will be calculated for you when you submit your claim and depends on the amount of rent you pay and income tax you pay

Rent is defined as the amount you pay for use of the property but it does not include any amount you pay for extra services such as utilities, board, or laundry - you should exclude any amount you pay for these services when calculating the rent you pay.

The highest value of the Rent Tax Credit is €1,000 per year for jointly assessed married couples or civil partners.

The maximum value is €500 in all other cases, including single persons and this is the case no matter how many properties you are currently paying rent for during the year.

Subject to a number of conditions, the Rent Tax Credit may be available where you pay rent for:

your principal private residence
another property you use to facilitate your attendance at work or on an approved course

a property used by your child to facilitate their attendance on an approved course.

The conditions which apply relate to the:

location and use of the rental property

type of tenancy
relationship between you, or your child, and the landlord

and

age of your child and the type of course they are attending, where relevant.

How to claim

The Revenue states that “you should provide as much information as possible about your rental arrangement when making a claim.

“This includes the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) number for your tenancy, where applicable.

“The RTB website provides guidance on where you can find this number, if required.

“You should take all reasonable steps to obtain the RTB number for your tenancy, where applicable. Cases may arise where you are unable to provide this number at the time of your claim. In such cases, you will not be prevented from making a claim for the credit.

“You may, however, be asked by Revenue to provide the RTB number, where applicable, at a later date. If you are still unable to provide the number at that stage, any credit given to you may be withdrawn.

“You should keep all records related to your rental arrangement so that you can provide them to Revenue, if requested”.

For 2023 specifically, if you are a PAYE taxpayer, you are able to claim the credit through myAccount for rent paid during 2023.

Alternatively, you can claim the credit for 2023 by completing your Income Tax Return for 2023 next year.