TO EASE THE burden faced by many of us here who are renting, the government has introduced the Rent Tax Credit to make life a little easier for renters. 

The credit means that anyone who rented a property in 2022 may be entitled to claim back €500 as an individual or €1,000 as a couple through Revenue. If you wish to avail of this credit but are confused about your eligibility, we are here to help explain what it all means.

Together with Daft.ie, we have compiled a comprehensive guide to the rent tax credit process that will help you determine if you are eligible and how to avail of it. We’ll help you decipher the sometimes tricky-to-understand procedures that come with claiming tax credits.

What is it?

To begin, the rent tax credit was announced in Budget 2023. The new addition to the budget outlined that renters will be due a tax credit relief of €500 up to €1,000, and is set to last from 2022 until 2025. 

The amount of the credit is 20% of your rent payments in the year, up to a maximum of €500 for an individual and €1,000 for a couple who are jointly assessed for tax. 

To claim the tax credit for rent paid in 2022, you must make a tax return for 2022. You can claim the tax credit during the year for other years. 

You can avail of the tax credit if in 2022 you paid rent for one of the following: 

• your principal private residence
• another property you use to facilitate your attendance at work or on an approved course
• a property used by your child to facilitate their attendance on an approved course.

How to avail of the tax rental credit

Now that you hopefully have a better understanding of the credit, now is the time to apply for it. To do so, PAYE taxpayers should claim the rent tax credit due to them for the 2022 tax year by completing a Form 12 tax return using PAYE Services in myAccount.

To get started, simply visit Revenue’s site here and follow the step-by-step guide from Daft below on what to do: 

Before you can claim the credit, you will need to provide information about your rental situation. To ensure a smooth process, we recommend you gather the essential information before starting the application. Daft.ie has outlined the required information in their graphic below:

To check if a tenancy is registered on the RTB website, visit here. 

More information on the rental tax credit is available through Daft.ie’s helpful blog and a full guide to the credit issued by the government is available here.