LABOUR councillor Joe Leddin has urged renters in Limerick to register on Revenue.ie for the €500 rent tax credit announced in Budget 2023.
Responding to revelations that just half of eligible renters have registered for the tax relief scheme for renters, Cllr Leddin said that the low uptake exposes the shallowness of Government schemes which are mooted as panaceas for renters.
The City West representative compared the disappointing figures with the slowness with which the Government has rolled out its proposed first refusal scheme for renters whose landlords are selling up.
“News that just half of the 400,000 people who are eligible to claim the much-heralded renters’ tax credit have actually availed of the scheme comes as no surprise. I’m aware of many renters in who have yet to claim the tax relief and I would urge them to do so urgently,” Cllr Leddin commented.
“It’s a simply process that can be carried out on Revenue’s website. As rents continue to rise, every little helps to give renters a much deserved break.
“In successive parliamentary questions, submitted by the Labour Party to the Minister for Finance, the slow take-up has been evident.
“These latest figures confirm what we all know: the Government is eager to launch policies to much fanfare and applaud but, in reality, those policies lack depth and are unable to help the majority of people who are struggling in the rental sector.”
Leddin went onto claim that in response to criticism of Budget 2023, which offered little help to renters during an historic cost-of-living-cum-housing crisis, the Government was highly self-congratulatory about this scheme, which is valued at up to €500 per person, or €1,000 for jointly assessed couples who paid rent in 2022.
“As if plucked from thin air, the tax credit for renters was never going to make an impact for the hundreds of thousands of people paying an average of nearly €20,000 per year to live in a rented home.
“The Minister should not infer from the low uptake that renters do not need a dig out. Let there be no doubt, renters in Limerick are suffering, and what was announced in Budget 2023 has not provided the certainty they need around security of tenure this coming winter, nor the clarity needed that their rent won’t rise in line with the tax credit announced.
“The decision to lift the eviction ban, with no evidence basis or meaningful contingency plan, has only compounded the need for real measures in 2024,” he concluded.
