Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 July 2014
49. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Finance with regard to a couple who have joint custody of their child but are separated, the reason the single parent tax credit cannot be assigned to the father at the mother's request, because they are in receipt of the credit for another child. [28888/14]
View answerAn individual, (the 'primary claimant'), is entitled to the single person child carer credit (SPCCC) where he or she:
- Is not married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership,
- Is not jointly assessed or in receipt of the basic personal tax credit for a widowed person or a surviving civil partner, and
- Proves that for a tax year he or she has a qualifying child residing with him or her for the whole or the greater part of that year.
If the primary claimant does not wish to claim the credit, (e.g. because of insufficient taxable income to use the credit fully), he or she may surrender the credit in favour of another person, (the 'secondary claimant'), who has a significant role in caring for the child.
The secondary claimant is only entitled to the SPCCC, following the surrender of it by the primary claimant, where he or she:
- Is not married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership,
- Is not jointly assessed or in receipt of the basic personal tax credit for a widowed person or a surviving civil partner, and
- Proves that for a tax year he or she has a qualifying child residing with him or her for at least 100 days in the year.
The SPCCC is designed to be an in-work benefit to support the principal carer of a child or children to take up, or remain in, employment. However, there is entitlement to only one credit no matter how many qualifying children reside with a claimant, whether that person is a primary or secondary claimant. Therefore, where the credit is claimed by a primary claimant, there is no credit available to be surrendered to a secondary claimant.
