Rent Tax Credit
Further conditions where property is used by your child
Parents who pay rent for their children may be entitled to claim the Rent Tax Credit.
In addition to the conditions outlined in the Qualifying conditions for all claimants page, the conditions below must be satisfied.
Use of property
The property must be used by your child specifically to facilitate his or her attendance at an approved course.
An approved course for this credit has the same meaning as for tax relief for third level tuition fees. Please see Approved list of college courses to check if your child’s course qualifies for Rent Tax Credit. The property concerned must also be a residential property located in the State.
The property must be the child’s principal private residence during term time. You can still claim the Rent Tax Credit if your child returns to the family home outside of term time. This may include:
- weekends
- or
- other times outside of semester terms.
- Example 1
Joseph attends an approved course in Maynooth and lives in rental accommodation along with two of his classmates. Joseph’s parents pay all rental costs for this accommodation.
Once a month, Joseph returns to the family home in Kilkenny for the weekend. Subject to all other conditions being met, Joseph’s parents will be eligible for the Rent Tax Credit in this scenario.
Relationship with landlord
The Rent Tax Credit is not available if you or your child and the landlord are related in any way. This means that you cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if there is any family relationship between the parties. This includes relationships such as:
- parent and child
- grandparent and grandchild
- sibling
- aunt or uncle and niece or nephew.
Type of tenancy
Where you are paying rent on behalf of your child, the Rent Tax Credit will only be available where the tenancy is:
- of a type which is required to be registered with the RTB
- and
- the landlord has complied with any such registration requirement.
This means that the Rent Tax Credit will not be available where the tenancy is of a type which is exempt from RTB registration. This includes a ‘rent-a-room’ or a ‘digs’ type arrangement. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) website sets out full details of the various tenancy types and conditions required for registration.
Age of child
The child must have been under 23 at the start of the tax year in which he or she first commenced an approved course for the rent tax credit to apply.
- Example 2
Mary turned 21 on 18 February 2019 and commenced a three-year approved course in September 2019. Throughout the duration of this course, Mary lived in rental accommodation that was paid for by her parents.
Subject to all other conditions being met, Mary’s parents will be entitled to claim the Rent Tax Credit. The credit will therefore be available even though Mary turns 23 before she finishes her course.
For further examples to explain the conditions, please see Rent Tax Credit guidance.
Next: How much can you claim?