Over 200,000 homeowners eligible for new mortgage interest tax relief

Kenneth Fox

A total of 208,000 homeowners will be able to claim a new tax relief on their mortgage interest from Wednesday.

The one-off measure was introduced to help those whose repayments have risen sharply since the European Central Bank (ECB) began hiking interest rates in 2022.

The relief is at the standard rate of income tax, and is based on the increase in interest paid in 2023 over interest paid in 2022.

PAYE workers can avail of the credit, which is worth up to €1,250, through the my section on the Revenue website.

Commenting on the commencement of the measure, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said: "The Government is acutely conscious of the impact increases in interest rates have had on many mortgage holders. In light of this, I introduced a temporary one year, targeted Mortgage Interest Tax Relief scheme as part of Budget 2024.

"This forms a further element of a comprehensive package of cost of living s in Budget 2024 which includes energy credits, income tax and USC reductions, and welfare increases which are helping households throughout the country.

"I am pleased to announce that PAYE taxpayers can now submit a claim for this relief by logging on to Revenue’s my service and filing an income tax return for 2023. Self-assessed taxpayers will be able to claim the relief in mid-February."

A public information campaign was launched last week to raise awareness amongst taxpayers of the range of tax credits and reliefs available and how they can claim those credits and relief.

Mr McGrath added: "As I have stated many times, I encourage all taxpayers to avail of the full suite of credits and reliefs available to them, including Mortgage Interest Tax Relief."