Ireland Rent Tax Credit Calculator

What Is the Ireland Rent Tax Credit?

The Rent Tax Credit was introduced in Budget 2023 for the 2022 tax year, designed to help private renters with the high cost of housing in Ireland. It is a tax credit — a direct reduction in the amount of income tax you owe to Revenue — rather than a deduction from your taxable income. This distinction matters because a €1,000 credit saves you €1,000 in tax, not €200 or €400 (as a deduction would for standard or higher-rate taxpayers respectively).

The credit is available for tax years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The amounts have increased each year: €500 per person in 2022, €750 per person in 2023, and €1,000 per person from 2024 onwards (doubled to €2,000 for jointly assessed couples). The credit is limited to 20% of rent paid — so if you paid less than €5,000 in rent in 2024, the credit is 20% of your actual rent rather than the full €1,000.

You must rent a property as your principal private residence from a private landlord to qualify. Social housing tenants, HAP recipients, Rent Supplement recipients, and those renting from connected parties (such as a parent or sibling) are excluded. Students renting private accommodation under standard tenancy agreements may be eligible, but those renting directly from educational institutions are generally not.

Who Qualifies and How Much Can You Get?

Eligibility is straightforward: you must be a PAYE worker or self-assessed taxpayer with a tax liability, renting a private property as your main home, and not in receipt of any State housing support. Joint filers (married couples and civil partners assessed jointly) can double the credit — up to €2,000 in 2024 and 2025 — even if only one person is the tenant, as long as the property is the couple's principal residence.

The credit is calculated as the lesser of two amounts: your year's maximum (€500, €750, or €1,000 per person depending on year), or 20% of the rent you actually paid that year. If you paid €3,000 in rent in 2024, your credit is €600 (20% of €3,000) — not the full €1,000. If you paid €6,000, your credit is the full €1,000. If you paid €10,000, the credit is still capped at €1,000 per person regardless of the 20% calculation.

You can claim credits for prior years going back to 2022. Many people have not yet claimed, particularly for 2022 and 2023. Each unclaimed year is money left on the table — submitting a claim for 2022 and 2023 together with your current year could result in a refund of several thousand euro in a single payment. Revenue processes these claims efficiently through myAccount and typically pays refunds within a few days.

Claiming Through Revenue myAccount

PAYE workers claim through Revenue's myAccount portal at myaccount.revenue.ie. The process takes around five minutes per year. You will need your landlord's name, address, PPSN (if known — but not always required), and the amount of rent paid. Revenue may ask for a copy of your lease agreement or a rent receipt if they need to verify the claim, so keep these documents handy.

Self-assessed taxpayers include the Rent Tax Credit on their annual income tax return (Form 11). The credit is applied against your income tax liability after other credits. If the credit exceeds your tax liability for the year, you cannot carry the unused portion forward — so it is important to ensure you have sufficient income tax paid in the relevant year to fully absorb the credit. Most full-time PAYE workers earning above €20,000 will have more than enough tax liability to fully benefit from the credit.

All amounts calculated by this tool are estimates based on the published Revenue rules. The actual credit you receive depends on your individual circumstances and Revenue's assessment of your claim. This calculator is for guidance only — always verify your eligibility and the correct amounts through Revenue's official guidance at revenue.ie.