463 Widowed parent tax credit

Summary

This section provides a special tax credit for widowed parents and surviving civil partners with dependent children following the death of a spouse or a civil partner. The tax credit, which applies for the 5 years following the year in which the person is bereaved, is €3,600 in the first year, €3,150 in the second year, €2,700 in the third year, €2,250 in the fourth year and €1,800 in the fifth year. To qualify for the tax credit, 2 conditions must be satisfied-

• the widowed person must not have remarried by the start of the year, and
• a qualifying child must be resident with the widowed person for all or part of the year.

Details

Definition

(1) A “qualifying child” has the same meaning as in section 462B and any question as to whether a child is regarded as a qualifying child is determined on the same basis as it would be for the purposes of section 462B and subsections (5), (6) and (7) of that section apply accordingly.

Application

The section applies to an individual whose spouse or civil partner dies in a year of assessment.

Relief

(2) An individual who proves in relation to any of the 5 years of assessment immediately following the year of assessment in which that individual’s spouse or civil partner dies, that—

• he/she has not remarried before the start of the year, and
• a qualifying child is resident with him/her for all or part of that year,

shall be entitled to a tax credit as follows:

• €3,600 for year 1,
• €3,150 for year 2,
• €2,700 for year 3,
• €2,250 for year 4, and
• €1,800 for year 5.

No tax credit is available for any year of assessment where a man and woman are living together as husband and wife or as civil partners.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2019