Irish Tax Credits
Explained (2026)
Every tax credit available to PAYE employees in Ireland: who qualifies and how much they are worth.
What is a tax credit?
A tax credit is an amount that is subtracted directly from your income tax liability not from your income itself. This is an important distinction. A tax credit of €1,000 reduces your tax bill by €1,000, regardless of whether you are a standard-rate or higher-rate taxpayer. A tax relief of €1,000, by contrast, reduces your taxable income by €1,000, saving you €200 if you pay 20% tax or €400 if you pay 40%.
Tax credits in Ireland are non-refundable. If your credits exceed your income tax liability, the excess is not paid to you in cash it simply reduces your tax bill to zero. Any unused credits (other than the transferable elements between spouses) are lost.
Credits are claimed through Revenue's myAccount system, on your annual tax return, or via your employer's payroll for standard automatic credits. The calculator on IrishPAYE.ie allows you to model the effect of different credits on your take-home pay.
Core credits — applied automatically for all PAYE employees
Personal Tax Credit
Every taxpayer receives a Personal Tax Credit. For 2026, this is €2,000 for a single person and €4,000 for a married couple or civil partnership assessed jointly. Widowed persons without children receive €2,540. Widowed persons with dependent children receive €2,000 in the standard years. In the bereavement year, an additional widowed bereavement credit of €4,000 applies on top of the personal credit. Widowed parents with dependent children also receive a declining credit over five years, from €3,600 in Year 1 to €1,800 in Year 5.
Employee (PAYE) Credit — €2,000
Every PAYE employee automatically receives the Employee Credit, also known as the PAYE Credit, worth €2,000 in 2026. It is not available to self-employed individuals or company directors taxed outside the PAYE system. Combined with the Personal Credit, a single PAYE employee starts 2026 with €4,000 in credits, effectively making the first approximately €20,000 of annual income tax-free.
Family and caring credits
Home Carer Credit — €1,950
Available to married couples or civil partners where one spouse cares for a dependent person (typically a child, but also an aged or incapacitated relative) at home. The full €1,950 credit applies where the home carer's own income is €7,200 or less. It then tapers on a sliding scale and is fully extinguished where the home carer earns €11,100 or more. Revenue automatically applies whichever is more beneficial: the Home Carer Credit or the increased standard rate band that applies to dual-income couples, but you cannot claim both.
Single Person Child Carer Credit — €1,900
This credit of €1,900 is available to a single parent who is the primary carer of a qualifying child and who is not cohabiting. Only one person can claim this credit for a given child, typically the parent with whom the child lives. The other parent may hold it as a secondary claimant if the primary claimant surrenders it. This credit is automatically applied for single parent and widowed with children filing statuses in the calculator, but you can untick it if you are not the primary claimant.
Dependent Relative Credit — €305
A modest credit of €305 is available where you maintain a relative who is unable to maintain themselves due to age or incapacity. The credit may be reduced if the relative's own income exceeds the specified limit set by Revenue each year.
Housing credits
Rent Tax Credit — €1,000 / €2,000
The Rent Tax Credit is available to private tenants renting their principal private residence in Ireland. For 2026, the credit is worth €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a jointly assessed married couple. To qualify, the property must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Tenants in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are not eligible for this credit. The credit was first introduced in Budget 2023 and has been extended and increased in each subsequent Budget.
Age, disability, and health credits
Age Tax Credit — €245 (single) / €490 (married)
Taxpayers aged 65 or over in 2026 receive the Age Tax Credit: €245 for a single person and €490 for a married couple (where either spouse is 65 or over). In addition to the credit, taxpayers aged 65 or over may benefit from the income tax exemption under Section 188 of the Taxes Consolidation Act. Where total income is below €18,000 (single) or €36,000 (married), no income tax is payable at all. The calculator models both the credit and the Section 188 exemption, applying whichever results in the lower tax liability.
Incapacitated Child Credit — €3,800
This credit of €3,800 is available to a taxpayer who maintains a child who is permanently incapacitated (either physically or mentally), such that the child is unable to maintain themselves. The incapacity must have existed before the child reached age 21, or have arisen as a result of studying full-time. One credit applies per qualifying child.
Blind Person's Tax Credit — €1,950 (single) / €3,900 (both spouses)
Taxpayers who are certified as blind or with severe visual impairment may claim this credit. For 2026, the credit is €1,950 for an individual and €3,900 where both spouses or civil partners are certified blind. The Guide Dog Allowance (see below) can be claimed in addition to this credit.
Guide Dog Allowance — €165 credit
A statutory annual allowance of €825 is available to blind taxpayers who keep a trained guide dog. This allowance is given at the standard rate of 20%, producing a credit of €165. It is claimed in addition to the Blind Person's Tax Credit.
How credits are applied to your tax bill
Revenue's process is to first calculate your gross income tax liability (applying the standard and higher rates to your income), and then subtract your total credits from that figure. If the result is positive, that is your income tax bill. If the credits exceed the tax due, the excess is not refunded; it simply reduces the bill to zero.
For married couples assessed jointly, unused credits and unused rate band from one spouse can transfer to the other in certain circumstances, making joint assessment particularly beneficial when there is a significant income disparity between spouses.
The IrishPAYE calculator applies all credits in one step after calculating gross PAYE liability, and separately handles USC and PRSI. Neither is affected by tax credits.