In accordance with section 466A(1) Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (“TCA 1997”), the home carer tax credit cannot be availed of by a spouse who is the full-time carer for their husband or wife.
Section 466A TCA 1997 provides that the credit is available to jointly assessed married couples or civil partners where one spouse or civil partner (the ‘home carer’) stays at home to take care of a dependent person. The dependent person must normally reside with, or in close proximity to, the married couple or civil partners for the relevant year of assessment.
A dependent person, for the purposes of the home carer tax credit, includes:
• a child in respect of whom the home carer, or his or her spouse or civil partner, is in receipt of child benefit;
• an individual aged 65 years or over; or
• an individual who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity.
However, a dependent person does not include a spouse or civil partner.