Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 December 2025
546. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection to reverse or amend the decision to automatically tax carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit from January 2026, given the financial hardship this will cause for full-time carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69543/25]
View answer548. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Social Protection the consultation which took place with carers’ representative groups before introducing automatic taxation of carer’s allowance and carer’s benefit; if he will consider suspending the measure pending meaningful consultation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69545/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 546 and 548 together.
Taxation is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. However, I can confirm that Carer’s Allowance/Benefit is a taxable source of income.
Earlier this year, it was agreed between my Department and the Revenue Commissioners that, from 01 January 2026, information on Carer's Allowance payments will be included in the Taxable Payments Report shared directly with Revenue. The carer’s representative groups were informed of this and were satisfied that this equitable solution removes the onus that was previously on carers to contact Revenue themselves to inform them that they are in receipt of a Carer's Allowance payment, thereby making the process simpler for carers in the future.
I can confirm that the provision of real-time information to Revenue from 1 January 2026 is a forward-looking arrangement and that no historical or past-year payment information is being supplied by my Department to Revenue . If a carer contacts Revenue now in relation to previous years and finds themselves unable to pay a historic tax liability due to financial hardship, they should contact Revenue directly to discuss their individual circumstances.
If Carer's Allowance/Benefit is a person's only source of income, they are unlikely to have to pay tax. This is because their tax liability may not exceed their tax credits.
I hope that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
