Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 January 2014
210. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Finance if he will clarify the situation regarding entitlement to the single parent tax credit where the couple have separated and the mother of the child has remarried and where custody and access are shared by virtue of legal agreement; if he will confirm that the father of the child who remains single is entitled to the credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2522/14]
View answerAs you are aware the One-Parent Family Tax Credit (OPFTC) has been replaced with a new Single Person Child Carer Tax Credit from 1 January 2014. The restructured credit will be of the same value i.e. €1,650 per annum as the OPFTC and it will also carry the same entitlement to the additional €4,000 extended standard rate band, which increases it to €36,800 per annum, before liability to higher rate of income tax arises. However, the credit will be more targeted, in that it will in the first instance, only be available to the principal carer of the child.
The person who receives the child benefit payment is being used as the initial indicator by the Revenue Commissioners to identify the individuals who are most likely to qualify for the new credit. However, eligibility for the credit will in the first place be determined by who cares for the child for most of the year. In the situation outlined above, assuming that the mother cares for the child for the whole or greater part of the year, she would be designated as the primary carer. As she is married she would have no entitlement to either the old or the new credit. Although a single carer may relinquish the credit such that it can be claimed by a non-primary carer, in cases where the primary carer has no entitlement to the credit then it cannot be relinquished to the secondary carer.
However, a single father would be entitled to the credit in cases where the child resides with him for the whole or greater part of the year, as he would be the primary carer in such a scenario, regardless of the marital status of the mother. In such circumstance, the single father would also be entitled to the child benefit payment.
