Tax credits
Single Person Child Carer Credit: €1,900 and a wider band
Last updated 16 October 2026
A single parent can claim a €1,900 credit and €4,000 more at 20%. Who qualifies, who counts as the primary claimant, and how to pass it to the other parent.
The Single Person Child Carer Credit (SPCCC) is for a parent or guardian who cares for a child on their own. It is worth €1,900 a year, and it comes with a 20% band that is €4,000 wider: €48,000 in 2026 and €50,500 in 2027. Budget 2027 left the credit itself at €1,900.
What it's worth
For a parent earning €50,000 in 2026, compared with a single person without the credit:
| Income tax, single person | €7,200.00 |
| Income tax, with the SPCCC and wider band | €4,500.00 |
| Saving for the year | €2,700.00 |
That is the €1,900 credit plus €800.00 from having €4,000 more taxed at 20% instead of 40%. Lower earners, whose income doesn't reach the 40% band, gain the credit only.
Who counts as single
You can't claim if you are:
- married or in a civil partnership, unless separated
- taxed jointly with a spouse or civil partner
- living with a partner
- widowed or a surviving civil partner in the year of bereavement
A qualifying child
The child must be born in the year or under 18 at the start of it. A child over 18 counts if in full-time education or permanently incapacitated (with conditions about when). Foster children and children in residential care don't count. You get one credit however many children you have.
Primary and secondary claimants
Revenue sets out these rules on its primary and secondary claimants page.
The credit goes first to the primary claimant: the parent the child lives with for more than six months of the year. Where custody is equal, it's whoever receives Child Benefit.
If the primary claimant doesn't earn enough to use it, they can give it up for the year to a secondary claimant. That is usually the other parent, and the child must live with them for at least 100 days. Both parents can each claim for a different child if each meets the conditions for that child.
How to claim
- Primary claimants: in myAccount, under 'Manage your tax for the current year', add the credit and give the child's details. Self-assessed people claim on Form 11.
- To give it up: part B of Form SPCC1, on paper.
- Secondary claimants: Form SPCC2, on paper, once the primary claimant has given it up.
Work it out
Sources
- Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs (checked 25/10/2026)
- Department of Finance: Budget 2027: Tax Policy Changes (checked 25/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.