Family
Home Carer Tax Credit: for a spouse who cares for someone at home
Last updated 16 October 2026
Married couples and civil partners can claim up to €1,950 for 2026 (€2,050 for 2027). One partner must care for a child, someone 65+ or someone incapacitated.
The Home Carer Tax Credit reduces the income tax of a married couple or civil partners. One partner must work in the home caring for a dependent person. It is €1,950 for 2026. Budget 2027 raises it to €2,050 for 2027, once Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026 is enacted.
Who qualifies
- you must be married or in a civil partnership and taxed under joint assessment
- the home carer cares for at least one dependent person. That is a child for whom Child Benefit is paid, someone aged 65 or over, or someone permanently incapacitated
- the dependent person normally lives with you. A relative can instead live next door, on the same property or within 2 kilometres, with a direct link such as a phone or alarm
The home carer's own income
According to Revenue, for 2026 the full credit applies if the home carer earns €7,200 or less. Above that, it falls by half of the excess, and stops at €11,100. Carer's Allowance and Carer's Benefit don't count as income for this test. Revenue hasn't yet published the income limit for 2027.
What it's worth
| One earner on €70,000, spouse at home: income tax before the credit (2026) | €11,400.00 |
| Home Carer Tax Credit | (€1,950.00) |
| Income tax after it | €9,450.00 |
Credit or wider band: you can't have both
The home carer may have income of their own. Then a couple can either claim the credit or have the standard rate band increased by the lower earner's income (up to €35,000). Revenue gives you whichever is better.
| Spouse earns €9,000: reduced Home Carer Tax Credit | €1,050.00 |
| Wider band instead: €9,000 taxed at 20%, not 40% | €1,800.00 |
| Better option is worth | €1,800.00 |
The wider band only helps if the main earner's income reaches the higher rate. At low incomes, the credit is often worth more.
Claiming it
PAYE workers claim in myAccount through Manage Your Tax for the current year; self-assessed people claim on Form 11. You can claim for the previous four years if you didn't claim at the time.
Work it out
- Home Carer Tax Credit: what it's worth, back to 2022 →
- Stay at home or keep working? →
- Married couple's take-home pay →
- Joint, separate or single assessment →
Sources
- Revenue: Home Carer Tax Credit rates (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-29: Home Carer's Tax Credit (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Joint assessment (worked example for 2025) (checked 16/10/2026)
- Citizens Information: Budget 2027 (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs (checked 25/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.