Housing tax credits and reliefs

You can claim tax relief on some housing incomes and expenses and these are outlined below.

There is also a tax refund scheme, which is designed to help first-time buyers of newly built homes to get the required deposit. For more information, see the Help to Buy (HTB) incentive.

For information about Local Property Tax, see Exemptions from Local Property Tax.

You can claim an income tax credit for rent you have paid.

For 2024 and 2025, the amount of the credit is 20% of your rent payments in the year, up to a maximum of:

• €1,000 for an individual
• €2,000 for a couple who are jointly assessed for tax

(The 2024 limits were €750 and €1,500, but these were increased for the year retrospectively in Budget 2025.)

Read more about the Rent Tax Credit and how to claim it.

To qualify, you must have had an outstanding mortgage balance of between €80,000 and €500,000 on 31 December 2022.

The tax relief is 20% of the increased interest on your mortgage when compared with the amount you paid in 2022. The relief is capped at €1,250.

Read more about the mortgage interest tax credit.

If you rent out a room or flat in your home, you are exempt from income tax on the amount that your tenant pays you for rent and other services, up to €14,000 in a tax year.

Rent-a-room relief applies only to residential tenancies, not to short-term guest arrangements. The relief can also apply to a self-contained unit (such as a basement flat) if it is part of your home or is directly attached to it.

You are not eligible for Rent-a-room relief if you are renting the room to your son or daughter.

If you have income from providing accommodation to occasional visitors for short periods, for example through an online accommodation booking site, this income is not considered to be rental income. This is because the visitors use the accommodation as guests rather than tenants. Revenue have published a guidance manual on how such income is treated for tax purposes (pdf).

You can deduct the interest on mortgages used to purchase, improve or repair rented residential property when working out your rental income for tax purposes.

You must show that you have registered all tenancies in the property with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Interest can only be deducted during the period in which the property is let.

The amount of interest you can deduct on these mortgages has increased in recent years:

• Before 2017, it was 75% of the interest
• In 2017, it was 80% of the interest
• In 2018, it was 85% of the interest
• From January 2019, it is 100% of the interest

Interest is treated as accruing on a daily basis and the date the loan was taken out is not relevant.

Residential Premises Rental Income Relief

A new tax relief for individual landlords of residential properties was introduced in 2024. The Residential Premises Rental Income Relief is available for the years 2024 to 2027.

The relief is available at 20% of rental income profit. The maximum amount of relief each year is:

• €600 in 2024
• €800 in 2025
• €1,000 in 2026 and 2027

You can claim the relief in your income tax return.

Once you claim the relief, it will be taken back if you dispose of the property within the following 4 years.

Read more information about the Residential Premises Rental Income Relief on revenue.ie.

When ownership of a property is transferred, the financial gains are usually liable to tax but some exemptions and reliefs apply.

For instance, when you sell a property, any profit you make over the amount that you paid for it would usually be liable for Capital Gains Tax. There is however an exemption if the property is the main residence where you live. Read more about Capital Gains Tax.

If you get property as a gift or inheritance, you may have to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax. A number of reliefs and exemptions apply including if the transfer is between spouses or civil partners or, in certain circumstances, if you get a house that has been your main residence. Read more about Capital Acquisitions Tax.

You may also have to pay stamp duty when ownership of a property is transferred but there are some exemptions. Read more about stamp duty.