Ireland's rental market has been under extraordinary pressure for years. Average monthly rents nationwide exceeded €1,800 in late 2025, with Dublin rents averaging well over €2,100. For hundreds of thousands of renters, the cost of putting a roof over their heads is the single biggest expense they face. Recognising this, the government introduced the Rent Tax Credit in 2022 and has increased it in every Budget since. For 2026, the credit is worth up to €1,000 per individual and €2,000 for a couple who are jointly assessed for tax.
Despite the significant value of this credit, many renters are not claiming it. Revenue data suggests that hundreds of millions of euro in potential credits went unclaimed in the first year alone. If you are renting in Ireland, this guide will explain exactly what you are entitled to and how to claim it.
What Is the Rent Tax Credit?
The Rent Tax Credit is a personal tax credit that reduces the amount of income tax you owe. It is worth up to €1,000 per year for an individual, or €2,000 for a married couple or civil partners who are jointly assessed. The credit is available for qualifying rental payments made for your principal private residence, a second residence used by your child attending a qualifying course, or a property you rent because you work too far from your main home to commute daily (a digs situation).
Unlike a tax deduction (which reduces the amount of income on which you pay tax), a tax credit directly reduces your tax bill euro for euro. A €1,000 tax credit means you pay €1,000 less in tax. It is as straightforward as that.
Who Qualifies for the Rent Tax Credit?
To qualify, you must meet the following conditions:
- You are paying rent for a qualifying property in Ireland (or in an EEA country for students)
- The property is your principal private residence, or qualifies under the student/digs rules
- You are not receiving social housing support such as HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) or RAS (Rental Accommodation Scheme) for the same property
- Your landlord is not a connected person (such as a parent, sibling, or employer)
- You are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), or your landlord is. In practice, your landlord should have registered the tenancy
There is no income limit for this credit. Whether you earn €25,000 or €125,000, you can claim the full Rent Tax Credit as long as you meet the qualifying conditions and your rent payments equal or exceed the credit amount.
How Much Is the Credit Worth?
For 2026:
- Single person: up to €1,000
- Married couple / civil partners (jointly assessed): up to €2,000
If you pay less rent in the year than the credit amount (for example, you moved into a rental property in November and only paid two months' rent), the credit is limited to the amount of rent you actually paid.
The credit is available for the years 2022 to 2027. If you have not yet claimed for 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025, you can still go back and claim retroactively through Revenue's myAccount system. This could be worth up to €3,500 in backdated credits for a single person who has been renting throughout that period.
How to Claim the Rent Tax Credit
Claiming is done through Revenue's myAccount portal. Here is the process:
- Log in to your myAccount at revenue.ie
- Go to Manage Your Tax and select Claim Tax Credits
- Select Rent Tax Credit
- Enter the details of your tenancy: your landlord's name and address, the address of the rental property, the RTB registration number (if you have it), the amount of rent paid during the year, and the period of the tenancy
- Submit the claim
- Revenue will process it and either adjust your tax credits going forward (reducing the tax deducted from your pay) or issue a refund for overpaid tax
For PAYE workers, if you submit the claim early in the tax year, Revenue will spread the credit across your remaining payslips for the year. This means you will see a small increase in your net pay each month rather than receiving a lump sum refund at year-end.
What Information Do You Need?
Before you start the claim, gather the following:
- Your landlord's full name and address
- The address of the property you are renting
- The RTB registration number (check your lease or ask your landlord; you can also search the RTB register online)
- The total rent you paid during the tax year
- Proof of payment (bank statements, receipts, or standing order records)
Revenue may not ask for all of this upfront, but it is good practice to have it ready in case they request verification.
Can You Claim If You Receive HAP or Housing Support?
No. If you are in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), or any other form of social housing support for the same property, you cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit for that property. If you want to understand how HAP interacts with your income, check our Housing Assistance Payment calculator.
However, if you are a student renting a property for your studies and your parents receive HAP for a different property, your parents' HAP does not affect your eligibility to claim the Rent Tax Credit on your student accommodation.
The Credit for Parents With Children in College
One of the lesser-known aspects of the Rent Tax Credit is that it can be claimed by parents who are paying rent on a property for their child while the child attends a qualifying course of education. This is the so-called "digs" provision. If your son or daughter is attending university and you are paying their rent, you can claim the Rent Tax Credit even though you do not live in the property yourself.
The qualifying conditions are broadly the same: the tenancy must be registered with the RTB, the landlord cannot be a connected person, and the rent must be for a genuine tenancy (not an informal arrangement with a family friend, for example).
Claiming for Previous Years
You can claim the Rent Tax Credit retroactively for up to four years. At the time of writing, this means you can go back and claim for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 through Revenue's myAccount.
If you have been renting since 2022 and have never claimed, the potential refund for a single person is:
- 2022: €500
- 2023: €750
- 2024: €750
- 2025: €1,000
- Total: €3,000
For a couple jointly assessed, the total could be up to €6,000. That is real money, and it takes about fifteen minutes to claim through myAccount.
How the Rent Tax Credit Fits Into Your Overall Tax Position
The Rent Tax Credit sits alongside your other personal tax credits – the Personal Tax Credit (€1,875), the PAYE/Earned Income Credit (€1,875), and any other credits you are entitled to. It does not replace any of these; it is added on top. Our tax credits calculator can help you see how all of your credits interact.
For a renter earning €40,000, the Rent Tax Credit effectively saves €1,000 per year in tax, which works out to roughly €83 per month. For a couple jointly assessed and both renting, the saving is €2,000 per year or €167 per month. In a tight rental market, every euro counts.
The Bottom Line
The Rent Tax Credit is one of the most valuable and accessible tax credits available to Irish renters, and it is available regardless of your income level. If you are paying rent on a qualifying property, there is no good reason not to claim it. The process takes minutes through Revenue's myAccount, and you can go back and claim for previous years if you missed out.
Check your overall tax position with our Irish salary calculator, and make sure you are taking full advantage of every credit available to you. If you are self-employed and renting, our self-employed tax calculator can help you see how the Rent Tax Credit interacts with your preliminary tax obligations.