Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 May 2014
70. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons in receipt of the single person child carer tax credit for 2014; the way this compares to the number who received the one-parent family tax credit in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22049/14]
View answerI have previously replied to the Deputy in detail in relation to the Single Person Child Carer Credit on 13 February 2014 in my response to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 94 to 96, inclusive (7453/14, 7454/14 and 7455/15. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that for 2013, it is currently estimated that 76,800 individuals were in receipt of the One-Parent Family Tax Credit (i.e., in a position to utilise some or all of the tax credit to reduce their tax liabilities). As the Deputy is aware, the One-Parent Family Tax Credit was replaced with a new Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) from 1 January 2014. The new credit is targeted such that it is available only to the primary carer of the child. However, a primary claimant can relinquish it to a secondary claimant, an individual with whom the child must reside for not less than 100 days in the tax year. A maximum of one credit is available per claimant, regardless of whether he or she cares for more than one child. This is the same condition that applied to the One-Parent Family Tax Credit.
It is currently estimated that 85,000 individuals have been granted the SPCCC to date in 2014, most granted automatically, as I previously explained. Data on the number of taxpayers who ultimately receive the SPCCC - i.e. who are in a position to utilise some or all of the tax credit to reduce their tax liabilities - will not be available until after the end of the current tax year, so it is not possible to directly compare against the 2013 data for the One-Parent Family Tax Credit at this time.
