Only half of renters have claimed €500 rent tax credit

Kenneth Fox

A little over half of eligible renters have claimed their €500 rent tax credit since it was announced as part of Budget 2023.

According to the latest Revenue figures, 209,000 people have claimed the tax credit of the estimated 400,000 people who are eligible.

The rental credit was introduced in December 2022 to help tenants with the increased cost of rent. The tax credit is available for 2022 to 2025 inclusive and can be claimed by filing an income tax return.

As the Irish Examiner reports, in the final quarter of 2022, rents hit €1,733 per month, up 13.7 per cent on the same period in 2021.

Latest figures from Revenue show 186,180 people made a rent tax credit claim for 2022, while just 16,342 people made claims for both 2022 and 2023.

Some 7,221 taxpayers have made claims for 2023 alone, with some tenants unaware that this year's credit was readily available.

The rent credit is available to tenants as well as parents paying rent on behalf of a child who is living away from home while attending college.

Single people can claim up to €500 per year while married couples and civil partners can claim up to €1,000.

To claim the full rent credit, a single person must spend at least €2,500 a year on their rent and couples must spend at least €5,000.

Renters have four years to claim the credit based on the four-year lookback rule but are encouraged to apply for the relief imminently.

Meanwhile, in a survey of more than 1,000 people eligible for the rent credit, 16 per cent said they were lacking supports to back up their claim, due to a lack of valid receipts from their landlord, with 21 per cent saying they had not had a chance to get around to claiming their tax credit.