Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2023
143. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Finance the reason the Government does not provide the same tax relief for rental costs to students and their families, regardless of where they are studying on the island of Ireland, the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. [40882/23]
View answerThe Rent Tax Credit, as provided for in section 473B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997), was introduced by Finance Act 2022. 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 purpose behind the rent tax credit, introduced as a temporary measure, is to assist as part of the overall response to the accommodation shortage in the private rented residential sector in the Republic of Ireland. More specifically, the aim is to provide some financial assistance to renters in that particular sector who may face high rental costs and who do not receive any other housing supports from the State. Owing to this, the eligibility criteria for the credit specify that the rental property concerned must be a residential property located in the State.
As such, neither students attending university in Northern Ireland nor their parents are currently entitled to the Rent Tax Credit in respect of rent which they have paid for accommodation outside the State.
As the Deputy will appreciate, in designing tax reliefs, there is always a balance to be struck between providing support to as many people as possible consistent with the overall policy intention behind the measure and ensuring that there is an appropriate degree of control in the management of limited Exchequer resources.
