Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 February 2023
84. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Finance if he will extend the rental tax credit to PHD students who are paying for rent from their educational stipend which is untaxed (details supplied). [5039/23]
View answerFinance Act 2022 introduced the Rent Tax Credit, which is provided for in section 473B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA). This is an income tax credit of up to €500 per year (or up to €1,000 for jointly assessed couples) which may be claimed in respect of qualifying rent paid in 2022 and subsequent years to end-2025.
The credit is broadly available in the following three circumstances:
1) where the claimant makes a qualifying payment in respect of his or her principal private residence,
2) where the claimant makes a qualifying payment in respect of a ‘second home’ which he or she uses to facilitate his or her attendance at, or participation in, his or her employment, office holding, trade, profession or an approved course, and
3) where the claimant makes a qualifying payment in respect of a property used by his or her child to facilitate the latter’s attendance at, or participation in, an approved course within the meaning in section 473A of the TCA. (In this case, ‘child’ means a child of an individual, or a child of the individual’s spouse or civil partner, who has not attained the age of 23 years at the commencement of the year of assessment during which he or she first enters an approved course.)
Full details of how to claim the tax credit and the conditions that apply are set out in the relevant Tax and Duty Manual (Part 15-01-11A) available on the Revenue website at the following link:
www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/land-and-property/rent-credit/index.aspx .
Exhibitions, bursaries or other similar educational endowments provided to students (including postgraduate students) are exempt from income tax where the conditions set out in section 193 TCA are met.
It is a general principle that in order to avail of income tax reliefs a person must pay income tax. In the case of a single person, the amount of tax that must be paid to fully avail of the Rent Tax Credit is €3,900 in 2022 and €4,050 in 2023. The Rent Tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit and I currently have no plans to depart from this principle.
