Apply for support to fund the cost of Home Care

Home Care Costs

A large majority of older people in Ireland can stay at home, with home support services in place for them. There are different ways to fund Home Care:

1 – Private/Family Contributions (can avail of PAYE Tax Relief at up to 40%)
2 – HSE Funding (Currently awaiting 2020 HSE tender)

How do I claim tax relief ?

You can claim tax relief on the cost of hiring a home support worker if you employ one for yourself or for a family member. You can claim tax relief on these costs based on your relevant tax bracket 20% or 40%. This can be claimed by filling out the HK1 form “Claim for an Allowance for Employing a Carer”. This tax relief can be claimed either monthly through your pay or at the end of each year. Remember that any member of your family may be able to avail of tax relief at the highest bracket, which may reduce your home care costs by as much as 40%.

For further information please contact your local Homecare Office and our Client Coordinators will be happy to assist you

1 – Private/Family Contributions (can avail of PAYE Tax Relief at up to 40%)

Home care is in most cases much more cost effective than Nursing Home costs, as you will only pay for the care hours you receive. There is currently a PAYE Tax Relief scheme in place, that can give you relief of up to 40%. Any member of your family can avail of the current tax relief scheme, which will make your home care costs cheaper by 40%.

Revenue Information
Citizens Information

The person or persons to whom the invoice is addressed and who pay the care bill can claim tax relief up to their highest tax bracket.

Tax relief is applied pro-rata to the amounts paid by each individual, if more than one person pays for care.

The annual limit for tax relief is 75,000 €, per each incapacitated person, per annum.

Complete a HK1 form – Claim for Allowance for Employing a Carer ( can we make this wording a link to the following link please – https://www.revenue.ie/ga/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/documents/form-hk1.pdf) and submit it to your local tax office. Submit this form during or after the year ends.

This form is attached to the IT47 Employed Person Taking Care of an Incapacitated Individual.

Choose to claim your tax back monthly or at year end.

The  Citizen’s Advice Centre has information about calculating your income tax – https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax/how_your_tax_is_calculated.html.

The Revenue also has information about employing a carer. https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/health-and-age/employing-a-carer/index.aspx.

Please contact the Revenue with any queries about your tax situation. Your local tax office address can be found on your Tax Credit Certificate or on any correspondence you have received from Revenue. 

Note:

The information on this page is correct for the tax year 2019.

Please note that VAT is not applied to the home care sector.