What is the Rent Tax Credit in Ireland?

The Rent Tax Credit gives tenants in private rented accommodation up to €1,000 per year (€2,000 for a jointly-assessed couple) off their income tax bill. It was introduced in 2023 and applies to rent paid from 1 January 2022. You claim it through your Revenue myAccount at revenue.ie.

Can I claim tax relief on health expenses in Ireland?

Yes. You can claim 20% tax relief on most out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses that are not covered by insurance. This includes GP visits, consultant fees, physiotherapy, orthodontics (certain conditions), and prescribed medicines. You claim through the Health Expenses section of your annual tax return on myAccount.

How does remote working tax relief work in Ireland?

If you work from home, Revenue allows you to claim 30% of the cost of electricity and heat, and 30% of broadband costs, for the proportion of days worked at home. You calculate the home-working proportion by dividing your at-home days by total working days. The relief is worth between €100–€400 per year for a typical remote worker.

What are flat rate expenses in Ireland?

Flat rate expenses are Revenue-agreed deductions for workers in specific occupations — nurses, teachers, shop workers, engineers, and others. The amounts range from €80 to €2,000+ depending on your job. Revenue automatically applies them if you're registered for PAYE, but many workers are never told they exist.

How do I claim unclaimed tax credits from previous years in Ireland?

You can claim refunds going back four years through Revenue myAccount. Go to myAccount → Review your tax → select the relevant year → claim your credits. Revenue processes most refunds within five working days. The four-year limit means that in 2026, you can still claim for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Irish salary take-home: the tax credits most people forget to claim

Most PAYE workers in Ireland only claim their standard credits. Here are the ones that could put hundreds — sometimes over a thousand euro — back in your pocket.

Published 7 July 2026 · Neemias Santos

If you’re on PAYE in Ireland, there’s a good chance you’re paying more tax than you need to. Not because the system is broken — just because Revenue doesn’t chase you to claim what you’re entitled to. The money sits there until you ask for it.

Your employer handles the standard credits automatically: the Personal Tax Credit (€2,000) and the Employee Tax Credit (€2,000). That’s €4,000 off your annual tax bill. Most people think that’s it.

It’s not.

Here are the credits most PAYE workers miss.

Rent Tax Credit

If you’re renting privately in Ireland, you can get up to €1,000 off your tax bill every year. For a couple jointly assessed, it’s €2,000. This was introduced in 2023, and it applies going back to rent paid from January 2022.

One thing worth knowing: this is a tax credit, not a deduction. A deduction reduces your taxable income. A credit reduces the tax you owe, euro for euro. So if you owe €8,000 in income tax and you claim the Rent Tax Credit, you owe €7,000.

To claim it, you need your landlord’s PPSN or the property Eircode. You do it through Revenue myAccount under Tax Credits.

If you haven’t claimed it yet for 2022–2025, that could be up to €4,000 in refunds waiting. It’s worth doing.

Health Expenses

You can claim 20% back on qualifying medical expenses that weren’t covered by your health insurance. So if you paid €500 out of pocket for GP visits and consultant fees, you get €100 back.

It’s not life-changing on its own. But it adds up, especially in years with higher medical costs — a referral, physio, orthodontic work.

What qualifies:

Expense	Qualifies?
GP visits	Yes
Hospital charges	Yes
Consultant fees	Yes
Physiotherapy (with GP referral)	Yes
Prescribed medicines	Yes
Orthodontic treatment	Yes (certain conditions)
Routine dental (check-ups, fillings)	No
Cosmetic procedures	No
Over-the-counter medicines	No

You can claim for yourself, your spouse or partner, and dependants. Keep receipts — Revenue can ask for them.

Claim through myAccount → Health Expenses. You can go back four years.

Remote Working Relief

One thought I had when working from home became normal: this has a real cost. Broadband, heating, electricity. You’re using your home as an office and covering those costs yourself.

Revenue noticed the same thing. If you work from home, you can claim 30% of your broadband costs and 30% of electricity and heating costs — proportional to the days you work at home.

Here’s how it works in practice:

Home-working days ÷ total working days = home-use proportion

Broadband (annual) × 30% × home-use proportion = broadband relief
(Electricity + heating, annual) × 30% × home-use proportion = utilities relief

Example: 3 days at home out of 5, so 60% home-working. Annual broadband €600, electricity and heating ~€2,000.

Broadband: €600 × 30% × 60% = €108
Utilities: €2,000 × 30% × 60% = €360
Total: €468 claimed

At a 40% tax rate that’s €187 back. At 20%, it’s €94. You don’t need receipts for every bill — just accurate annual figures.

Claim through myAccount → Remote Working Relief. You enter your working days and annual costs.

Flat Rate Expenses

This one surprises people. Revenue has pre-agreed annual deductions for specific occupations — nurses, teachers, engineers, retail workers, journalists, construction trades. The idea is that these workers have job-related costs (uniforms, tools, professional subscriptions) that are hard to track individually, so Revenue just agrees a standard amount.

Occupation	Annual flat rate
Nurse / midwife (washing own uniform)	€733
National school teacher	€518
Construction workers	€147–€1,344 (depends on trade)
Shop assistant	€121
Bar worker	€97
Engineer	€151
Journalist	€317

These should be applied automatically if your occupation is registered correctly with Revenue. In practice, many people are either in the wrong category or were never told the deduction exists.

Check myAccount under Tax Credits → Flat Rate Expenses. If yours isn’t showing, you can claim it going back four years.

The full list is on Revenue.ie.

A few things that don’t qualify (common confusion)

Gym memberships — no relief available.
Routine dental — check-ups and fillings don’t qualify. Some specialist dental work does.
General commuting costs — no relief, though the tax-saver commuter ticket scheme reduces PRSI and USC if your employer offers it.
Mortgage interest — a limited relief was in place for 2023 and 2024 specifically. It doesn’t apply broadly to new mortgages going forward.

How to check what you’re owed

The process is straightforward.

Go to myAccount on Revenue.ie
Select Review Your Tax for each year
Revenue shows a preliminary calculation — overpaid or underpaid
Add any credits you haven’t claimed and submit
Refunds usually arrive within five working days

In 2026, you can still claim back to 2022. If you haven’t done this before, it’s worth spending an hour on it.

See the impact on your take-home

If you want to see how your credits affect your actual monthly pay, our Irish salary calculator lets you enter your full tax credit amount and shows the real breakdown — income tax, PRSI, USC, and what lands in your account.

This is not financial advice

This is a general guide. Tax rules change, and individual situations vary. If you want advice specific to your situation, talk to a tax adviser registered with the Irish Taxation Institute or a financial adviser authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland.

WorthClear is not a regulated tax or financial adviser.