Rent Tax Credit
Qualifying conditions for all claimants
There are several conditions which must be met by all claimants of the Rent Tax Credit.
Formal claim
You must make a formal claim to receive the credit for 2024 by completing your 2025 Income Tax Return. If you are claiming the credit for 2025, you will be able to make your claim in year through myAccount.
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 Tenancies 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.
The Rent Tax Credit is not available for ‘rent-a-room’ or ‘digs’ type arrangements if you and the landlord are related.
- Example
John resides in student digs and makes a rental payment of €750 per month during the 2024 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 that 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 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 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 may 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 additional conditions.
Next: Further conditions where a property is used as principal private residence