Ben Briscoe
Question:38 Mr. Briscoe asked the Minister for Finance the tax allowances, benefits and credits, if any, available to married men who stay at home to mind their children. [7184/97]
Written Answers. - Tax Allowances.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the Taxes Acts do not provide specific tax allowances or reliefs for people, including married men, who stay at home to mind their children.
As the Deputy will be aware, however, married couples have the option of being taxed on their joint income. Where they avail of this option, they are entitled to double the allowances, rate bands etc. available to a single person. The combined allowances are allocated between the spouses on the basis of their instructions to the tax office. In a case where one of the spouses is not in paid employment, this facility for joint assessment can be of significant benefit as he or she can instruct the tax office to allocate the total tax allowances due to the couple to the other spouse.