Simon Harris calls for doubling of rent tax credit

The rent tax credit should be doubled, according to a Government minister.

The current maximum value of the credit is 1,000 euro per year for jointly assessed married couples or civil partners and 500 euro in all other cases, including single people.

The tax credit was introduced in December 2022 and is due to be available for every year to 2025.

It has been claimed by approximately 230,000 renters.

Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris said there should be a “significant increase” in the credit in the October budget, adding that he believed it should be “doubled”.

“It needs to be increased, 500 euro is welcome but rent is expensive in this country and I would echo calls from Minister for Housing [Darragh O’Brien] that he would like to see it increased, I ideally would like to see it doubled if possible.”

Mr Harris said he would like to see the credit “tweaked” to allow for parents to receive it if their student child is accessing “digs” accommodation.

Speaking at the launch of the Economic and Social Research Institute’s Student Mobility report in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Mr Harris also said there needs to be a significant uplift in the funding of student accommodation projects.