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13th May 2019

More than 60,000 Irish families are missing out on a tax rebate worth thousands

Paul Moore

Tax refunds

It could mean a bit more money in your pocket.

More than 60,000 families in Ireland are missing out on the Home Carer Credit, which could see tax rebates of up to €4,100 over a four-year period, according to Taxback.com.

The credit, which stands at €1,500 in 2019, can be claimed by any married couple, or those in civil partnerships, where one spouse is the home carer and cares for one or more dependent persons, which includes children under 18.

Eileen Devereux, Commercial Director at Taxback.com, said that more households need to be aware of their entitlements and two years ago, they launched a campaign for people to do so which saw the numbers claiming the credit rise by 5,000.

Devereux said: “There is still a gulf between the number of households entitled to the credit and those actually claiming it, so we think now is as good a time as any to revisit our campaign to spread the word in the hope that it might prompt more people to claim this year.”

The most recent CSO statistics report that the number of married couples with children where one partner describes their status as “looking after home/family” stood at 146,698 in 2016. However, the most recent figures from Revenue reveal that just 85,900 people submitted a claim for the Home Carer Credit in the same year.

Devereux added: “According to Revenue, tax returns in 2016 indicate a total of 85,900 people claimed the credit at a cost to the exchequer of €77.9m – which is an average of €906 each. Given that Revenue treats taxpayers as units this means a total of 85,900 families claimed the credit.

“If we contrast this with the estimated 146,698 households with children where one parent is looking after the home, it appears that only about 59% of families are claiming their entitlement, which is not surprising when you consider the number of people that are aware of its existence.”

More information on the Home Carer Credit is available here.

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