Michael McGrath
Question:94. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of recipients of the one-parent family tax credit in each year from 2010 to 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7453/14]
View answerThursday, 13 February 2014
Questions (94, 95, 96)
Michael McGrath
Question:95. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the expected number of recipients of the single person child carer tax credit in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7454/14]
View answerMichael McGrath
Question:96. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of claims for a tax repayment in respect of the one-parent family tax credit for the years 2010 to 2013 which have been received since the announcement of the abolition of the credit in budget 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7455/14]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 to 96, inclusive, together.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of individuals in receipt of the One Parent Family Credit (OPFC), for the years requested by the Deputy, are as set out.
OPFC
Year - Number
2010 - 95,500 (Revenue Statistical Report)
2011 - 104,200 (Revenue Statistical Report)
2012 - 101,400 (Estimate)
2013 - 76,800 (Provisional estimate based on preliminary data)
These figures represent the number of individuals who were able to utilise the credit in whole or in part to reduce their tax liabilities. The number of claimants of OPFC shown above may change given that a person has a four-year timeframe in which to claim a refund of tax.
I am also informed by the Revenue Commissioners that OPFC has been granted to 3,943 individuals since 16 October 2013. Based on information extracted from their records, claims relate to the following tax years:
|
Year |
Number of Claims |
|
2010 |
667 |
|
2011 |
1,001 |
|
2012 |
1,549 |
|
2013 |
3,198 |
It should be noted that some individuals have claimed the tax credit for a number of years. In addition, some of the claims shown may not be new claims and may be updated claims (i.e. credit being reinstated having been withdrawn previously). It is not possible to provide data on actual new claims.
The One-Parent Family Credit ceased with effect from 31 December 2013 and was replaced by the Single Person Child Carer Credit, (SPCCC), from 1 January 2014. Only one credit in respect of any qualifying child is available. This credit will only be granted to a primary claimant who has a qualifying child residing with him or her for the whole or greater part of a tax year; that is, for a period in excess of six months. However, the primary claimant can surrender the credit to a secondary claimant where the child resides with the latter individual for at least 100 days in the year.
To ensure the minimum inconvenience to taxpayers in the introduction of the new credit, Revenue automatically allocated it to individuals who had previously claimed the One-Parent Family Credit, and where Department of Social Protection records showed there was also an entitlement to Child Benefit. This approach was adopted because entitlement to Child Benefit would generally indicate that the child resides with the individual for most of the year.
The outcome of this automatic allocation was that 74,420 individuals were allocated the Single Person Child Carer Credit, at the start of 2014. However, this number included all individuals entitled to the OPFC and in receipt of Child Benefit, regardless of whether the credit was of benefit to them in reducing their tax liabilities or not; for example, people who were unemployed or suffered a reduction in earnings, or who qualified for other allowances or reliefs which reduced their taxable income. It also included individuals who are not entitled to the credit because their circumstances had changed for example, they were now cohabiting- but Revenue had not been made aware of the change of circumstances.
Currently 79,007 individuals have been allocated the credit. This is an increase of almost 4,600 since the start of the year, representing individuals who were entitled to the credit but were not automatically allocated it; for example, because Child Benefit was not being paid to the claimant in respect of the child. This figure includes 538 cases where the credit has been relinquished by the primary claimant and subsequently taken up by a secondary claimant.
It is not possible, at this stage, to quantify the final number of individuals who will claim or will be allocated the SPCCC for 2014, nor how many of those individuals will be able to utilise it in whole or in part to reduce their tax liabilities. However, in assessing the budgetary effect of the new measure, Revenue calculated that the new SPCCC would be availed of by 13,400 fewer claimants than the OPFC.