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Rent Tax Credit

Further conditions where a property is used as second home

The Rent Tax Credit may be available on your second home if it meets certain conditions. A property is considered to be your second home if you have another place of residence available to you.

In addition to the conditions outlined in the 'Qualifying conditions for all claimants' page, the conditions below must be satisfied.

Relationship with the landlord

The Rent Tax Credit is not available if you and the landlord are parent and child, or vice versa. 

Where you and the landlord are related, the credit may still be available but only where:

  • the tenancy is of a type which is required to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB)
  • and
  • the landlord has complied with any such registration requirement.

Use of property

The use of your second home must be to facilitate your participation in:

  • your employment
  • your office holding
  • your trade
  • your profession
  • or
  • an approved course.

Please see the Approved list of colleges and courses to check if your course qualifies for the Rent Tax Credit. The property concerned must also be a residential property located in the State.

  • Example 1

    Pauline’s main residence is in Limerick and she works in Dublin. In order to avoid a lengthy daily commute, Pauline pays rent for accommodation close to her office. She stays in this accommodation several nights a week before returning to her main residence in Limerick every weekend.

    Subject to all other conditions being met, Pauline will be eligible for the Rent Tax Credit in this scenario.

  • Example 2

    Tom owns his principal private residence in Louth. Tom decides to rent a holiday home in Cork for a number of weeks during the summer of 2024. Tom takes his laptop with him so that he can keep in touch with the office during this time.

    Tom will not be entitled to claim the Rent Tax Credit for the rental costs of the holiday home, even though he may carry out some work while he is in Cork. This is because Tom’s primary purpose for renting the property was for his holiday.

For additional examples to explain the conditions, please see the document entitled Rent Tax Credit.

Next: Further conditions where a property is used by your child

Published: 06 January 2025 Print this page

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