{"id":90344,"date":"2025-09-28T07:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/90344\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T07:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:46:09","slug":"proposed-rent-tax-credit-reforms-face-opposition-in-budget-talks-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/90344\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed rent tax credit reforms face opposition in budget talks \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A plan to make changes to the rent tax credit<\/a> for tenants in new-build apartments could face stiff opposition as the Government moves towards agreeing its first budget<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It is understood consideration has been given to whether there should be a change \u2013 potentially including a higher tax credit \u2013 for those living in such flats. It would kick in from the start of March next year.<\/p>\n

The date is the same as when reforms to the rent pressure zones<\/a> designed to usher institutional investment back into apartment construction will take effect.<\/p>\n

Among the reforms are the removal of a 2 per cent cap on rent increases in newly built apartments, which would instead be governed by the rate of inflation. <\/p>\n

Changes to the tax credit for those living in these units could potentially shield tenants in these units from the immediate impact of higher rents.<\/p>\n

Two sources confirmed such a move has been discussed before the budget, but a senior source cautioned it was \u201cunlikely\u201d. It would also need sign-off from spending ministers and Coalition leaders.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Budget 2026: What we know so far about October\u2019s package?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The wider rent tax credit looks set to be retained, but it is unclear if it will be increased as has been the case in recent years. The Programme for Government commits the Coalition to increasing it \u201cprogressively\u201d. <\/p>\n

Increasing the credit by \u20ac100 for a single person and \u20ac200 for a jointly assessed couple would cost \u20ac20 million, while doubling it to a level of \u20ac2,000 for an individual and \u20ac4,000 for a couple would cost \u20ac160 million in a full year, according to the Department of Finance<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It comes as Ministers continue pre-budget meetings with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers<\/a> and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe<\/a>. Both are emphasising the need to moderate spending, but some in Government have chafed against the budget process this year.<\/p>\n

One Coalition source criticised Mr Chambers\u2019s approach, saying line ministers were having to \u201cgrovel\u201d for funds for policies which did not count among the once-off measures the Government has pledged to remove. <\/p>\n

They said some opening negotiating positions by the Department of Public Expenditure<\/a> would be politically damaging if imposed.<\/p>\n

It is expected that Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary<\/a> will seek an additional \u20ac12 on core welfare payments in the budget, despite pushback from Mr Chambers\u2019s department over the scale of his initial budget-day requests. <\/p>\n

He is also expected to seek increases to the income disregard for the carer\u2019s allowance which at least match those given in last year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

Minister for the Environment Darragh O\u2019Brien<\/a> has privately urged Mr Donohoe to extend the reduced rate of VAT<\/a> applied to energy bills in the budget. <\/p>\n

The reduced rate is due to expire at the end of October. The extension is widely expected, with Mr O\u2019Brien said to have emphasised its value to households.<\/p>\n

He has also sought the extension of the zero-rating of VAT for contracts to install and supply solar panels, and the policy of exempting from income tax \u20ac400 from the sale of microgeneration electricity capacity to the grid. <\/p>\n

He has argued that maintaining these two measures would support the roll-out of smaller renewable energy systems designed for homes and businesses. <\/p>\n

On Saturday, Mr Donohoe said ensuring \u201cno job losses\u201d will be a key aspect of the budget.<\/p>\n

While he declined to be drawn on specific measures, Mr Donohoe said \u201chow we support small businesses\u201d along with the \u201ccreation and retention of jobs in Ireland be a \u201ckey focus\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the Southeast Technological University (SETU) Carlow, where he was attending a business and enterprise conference, he said: \u201cWe are all aware now of the huge changes that have taken place in the global economy. We can no longer assume that the jobs we have we are going to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Government had to look at \u201cfurther measures\u201d that will \u201cdeepen the competitiveness of Ireland\u201d and help employers of all sizes to be successful, he continued.<\/p>\n

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke<\/a> is seeking an expansion of the State\u2019s research and development tax credit. The policy allows companies claim a refund of \u20ac30 for every \u20ac100 spent on qualifying activities \u2013 although it is generally seen as more useful for the foreign direct investment sector.<\/p>\n

Mr Burke is seeking either for the credit to be increased by up to 5 per cent or for the definition of what can be counted as innovation for the purposes of claiming the credit to be expanded so more indigenous companies can benefit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A plan to make changes to the rent tax credit for tenants in new-build apartments could face stiff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[10471,79,21560,13458,22779,42426,18,19,17,26736,46,4772,57326,28196,24727],"class_list":{"0":"post-90344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-budget","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-dara-calleary","11":"tag-darragh-obrien","12":"tag-department-of-finance","13":"tag-department-of-public-expenditure-and-reform","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-jack-chambers","18":"tag-paschal-donohoe","19":"tag-peter-burke","20":"tag-rent-tax-credit","21":"tag-rent-pressure-zones","22":"tag-vat"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}