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Can a parent claim tax relief on an adult child's tuition fees

  • 18-08-2021 9:48pm
    #1
    Donald Trump
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,327 ✭✭✭✭


    A relation of mine came back from abroad to do a postgraduate degree. He was telling me the cost and I said "at least you'll get some of it back on your tax" and he said that because he wasn't working here for a couple of years, he have nothing to claim back so it just goes "to waste".

    In that scenario, can he wait a few years to claim it back in a year when he is back working or is the relief restricted to credits in the year of study?

    Or could one of his parents hypothetically claim back the tax credits? (assuming the parent paid the tuition money of course! 😉 )

    It's not a huge amount at stake I think but might be 500 quid or so.

    Years ago, I had to pay some fees at the end of my graduate studies and I think the oul' fella was able to claim some credits for it. All above board. Things might have changed since though. I looked at the revenue page and they don't mention parents.



Comments

  • #2
    ari101
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,835 ✭✭✭ari101


    Whomever pays can claim, even if they are not the student.

    While there is wiggle room in terms of year of claim, what you are suggesting likely wouldn't work. Depending on fee structure it might be possible to claim in the year the payment was made, the year the course started, or allocated across multiple years if the course ran multiple years.

    Lots of details on Revenue:

    https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/education/tuition-fees-paid-for-third-level-education/index.aspx



  • #3
    Donald Trump
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,327 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117774172#Comment_117774172


    Ah, thanks for that. I had actually glanced through that link earlier but kinda glossed over the "Overview" which said you could be the student or the person that pays. All the subsequent pages mentioned only the student! I had done <CTRL-F> to search for "parent"!


    Sorry for wasting time but thanks a million for the answer. I am sure it will help someone else too!



  • #4
    Donald Trump
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,327 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Actually, quick follow up question.


    If a parent pays for an adult child's tuition fees, are there any tax implications? i.e. is it considered a gift, subtracted from lifetime allowances etc?



  • #5
    ari101
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,835 ✭✭✭ari101


    If 25 or under they should be fine I believe, as there is a CAT exemption for full time education of a child. If over 25 might be liable to CAT on amounts over 6k per annum (assuming 3k/parent x 2).



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