Renters tax credit should be increased to €1,000, says Simon Harris
For Tax The €500 Credit, Rent Both Claim 2022 Introduced Back Renters To For Year, And Allows Last Currently 2023
The renters tax credit should be increased from €500 to €1,000 in the upcoming budget, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris says.
Speaking in Dublin on Monday, Mr Harris said that he plans to work with Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien on improving the credit in October’s budget, particularly for third-level students.
“What I would like to see and what I will work with the Minister for Housing on is a significant increase in the renter’s tax credit,” Mr Harris said.
“I think it needs to be increased. €500 is welcome but rent is expensive in this country. I would echo the calls of the Minister for Housing that he’d like to see an increase in the rent tax credit. I’d ideally like to see it doubled if possible.”
The rent tax credit, introduced last year, currently allows for renters to claim back €500 for both 2022 and 2023. He said that when the credit was initially introduced, he worked with Mr O’Brien and the Finance and Public Expenditure ministers to ensure that students were able to access the credit.
Alongside an increase, Mr Harris said that he wanted to see tweaks to allow students or their parents avail of the credit if they are staying in digs. He cites that this is currently the case if a student is living in either on-campus student accommodation or purpose-built student accommodation.
“Only the student can avail of the tax credit if you’re in the digs, the rent a room and for some students, their income may not be enough to benefit from the tax credit.
“I’d like to see that change to be students or parents as well, because in many cases people will know it might well be the parent assisting. It certainly will be the parent who can benefit in terms of the tax credit.”
Mr Harris added that he wants to see more money allocated to building student accommodation across the State. “We need to see a very significant uplift in the amount of money we’re spending on student accommodation,” Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris adds that he believes that funding will be provided in the upcoming budget, saying that there is a “real appetite and willingness” to fund student accommodation projects.
“We’ll very shortly be at a point that any project that has planning permission, we will have provided funding for. I haven’t met anything but support in Government for that.”