You are entitled to the annual Age Tax Credit if you are:

  • 65 years or older in the tax year
  • jointly assessed or separately assessed and your partner is 65 years or older in the tax year.

The Age Tax Credit is as follows €245 per person per year.

4 year rule

There is a limit to how far back you can claim tax refunds under the PAYE format

This limit is set to four years, meaning you can only request reviews or claim refunds from the last four years. For example, claims for 2017 must be made by 31 December 2021. Claims made after this time cannot be repaid.

Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC)

If you care for a child on your own you may be able to claim the Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC). This child may be:

  • your own child
  • an adopted child
  • any child that you support and maintain at your own expense.

Only one parent or guardian of a child can claim the SPCCC in a tax year. You may only claim one credit, even if you care for more than one child.

This credit came into effect on 1 January 2014. The value of this tax credit is €1,650 per year. This will reduce the tax you pay by €31.73 per week.

You may also be entitled to an increased rate band of €4,000. This is an additional €4,000 at the 20% tax rate. If you are due the SPCCC, then you are automatically due the increased rate band.

Employee Tax Credit

You can claim the Employee Tax Credit if you receive income that is taxable under the PAYE  system. This includes:

  • wages
  • benefit in kind
  • occupational pensions
  • Department of Social Protection (DSP) income.

You will also be entitled to this tax credit if you are an Irish resident and are in receipt of:

  • a social security pension received from another EU Member State
  • wages from abroad where tax was deducted under a PAYE type system.

Credit available

The amount you can claim will depend on your yearly income.

The maximum employee tax credit for 2020 is €1,650.

If your yearly income is €8,250 or more, you will be entitled to the full amount. If your income is below €8,250 then the amount of the credit is capped at 20% of your yearly income. For example, if your yearly income is €5,000 the credit will be €5,000 @ 20% = €1,000.

If you are married or in a civil partnership and both of you have PAYE income, you are both entitled to claim the credit. You cannot transfer the credit to your spouse or civil partner.

You are only entitled to one Employee Tax Credit no matter how many employments you have.

The Employee Tax Credit cannot be claimed by:

  • proprietary directors, their spouse or civil partner on income directly related to that directorship
  • the spouse, civil partner or child of a person paying the income
  • the spouse, civil partner or child of a partner in a partnership.

A proprietary director is a director who:

  • is the beneficial owner of a company
  • can directly or indirectly control more than 15% of the ordinary share capital of a company.

Children of proprietary directors can claim the credit if:

  • their job is in a qualifying PRSI class
  • PAYE has been correctly deducted from their income
  • the child gives all of their time to the job
  • they are paid at least €4,572 per year. If they work part-time this figure may be apportioned.