Rent Tax Credit
Qualifying conditions for all claimants
There are several conditions which must be met for all claims of the Rent Tax Credit.
Formal claim
You must make a formal claim to receive the credit for 2022 by completing your Income Tax return for 2022. If you are claiming the credit for 2023, you will be able to make your claim in real time when the online facility becomes available on myAccount in the coming weeks.
Your claim must relate to rental payments which were due and were paid during the relevant tax year. You should provide as much information about your rental arrangement as possible when making a claim. You should also retain all records related to your rental arrangement so that you can provide them to Revenue if requested.
Tenancy
The payment must have been made under a tenancy. A tenancy must have been entered into with the consent of the landlord.
Certain tenancies must be registered with the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB). This includes Student Specific Accommodation (SSA) provided by universities, colleges or private sector organisations. If this registration is not complete, the claimant will not be eligible for the Rent Tax Credit. The RTB website sets out full details of the various tenancy types and conditions required for registration.
In certain cases, the Rent Tax Credit applies for tenancies which do not need to be registered with the RTB. This includes ‘rent-a-room’ or ‘digs’ type arrangements.
However, the Rent Tax Credit will not be available for ‘rent-a-room’ or ‘digs’ type arrangements if:
- you and the landlord are related
- or
- you are paying rent on behalf of your child.
- Example
John resides in student digs and makes a rental payment of 500 euro per month during the 2023 tax year. As part of his rental agreement, John receives several meals a week.
For the Rent Tax Credit, John will have to apportion his monthly rental payment between:
- the amount attributed to his occupation and use of the rooms available to him
and
- the amount attributed to the food and board provided to him.
Property
The property concerned must be a residential property located in the State. A residential property for this purpose may be an entire property or selected rooms within a property.
Supported tenant
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if you are a ‘supported tenant’. This means you cannot be in receipt of state housing support such as:
- the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)
- Rent Supplement
- or
- Rental Accommodation Schemes (RAS).
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit even if you are required to make a ‘top-up’ payment in excess of a payment received from a state support scheme.
Members of the Oireachtas who receive an allowance under section 836 TCA 1997 cannot claim as they are deemed to be a ‘supported tenant’. However, they can claim where they make a payment in respect of their own principal private residence.
Landlord
You cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if your landlord is a Housing Association or Approved Housing Body.
Further conditions
As well as the conditions above, some further conditions apply to your claim for Rent Tax Credit, depending on the category of your rental arrangement. Please see the relevant page that follows for information on these further conditions.
Next: Further conditions where property is used as principal private residence