Tax relief on home care in Ireland,
and who may be able to claim
If you pay for home care for yourself or a family member who is totally incapacitated, you may be able to claim tax relief on the cost at your marginal rate, up to 40%.
Home / Tax relief
Relief at your marginal rate of tax, 20% or 40%
Up to €75,000 of care costs a year for each person cared for
Care from a home care provider can qualify
Claim in myAccount, on ROS or with Form HK1
What happens next
A quote on the first call
We ring you, talk through what your loved one needs, answer your questions and give you a quote on that first call.
We build the care plan
Our care management team builds the plan with you, covering the days, the hours and what the carer will help with.
You meet your carer first
We match a Garda-vetted carer, employed and insured by us. Your family meets them online before care starts, so they are a familiar face from day one.
How the tax relief works
Revenue calls it relief for employing a carer. When you pay for care for yourself or a family member who is totally incapacitated due to physical or mental infirmity, the cost may be deducted from your taxable income. These are the main rules, from Revenue’s own guidance.
At your marginal rate of tax
Relief is given as a deduction from your taxable income, at your marginal rate of income tax. That rate is 20% or 40%.
A limit of €75,000 a year
You claim on the actual cost of care or €75,000, whichever is lower, for each person who is incapacitated. Unused relief can’t be carried into the next year.
You need to have paid tax
The relief reduces the income tax you pay, so you need to have paid income tax in that year to benefit.
Care from a provider can qualify
Revenue gives the relief on care from commercial home care providers, as well as on a carer you employ yourself. Care through UIH may qualify when the other conditions are met.
On the cost you pay yourself
Care paid for with HSE or local authority funding doesn’t count. You claim on what you pay, after any HSE payments.
Claim within four years
You can claim during the tax year or after it ends, up to four years after the end of the year you paid for the care.
Revenue’s rules can change, so check your own position with Revenue before you claim.
Who qualifies, and who can claim
The person being cared for
Revenue’s test is that the person is totally incapacitated due to physical or mental infirmity. Form HK1 asks for the nature of the incapacity and the date it began. Relief can start in the first tax year in which you can show the person was totally incapacitated.
If you aren’t sure your loved one’s situation meets this test, ask Revenue before you claim.
Who can claim the relief
You may be able to claim if you pay for the care of any of these people.
Yourself
Your spouse or civil partner
A relative of yours, including relations by marriage
A relative of your spouse or civil partner
Someone you are, or were, the legal guardian of
Relief goes to whoever pays. If two or more of you share the cost, each may claim on the share you pay, and together your claims stay within the €75,000 limit for that person.
What the relief can be worth
Every family’s care costs are different, so these examples use percentages. They show how Revenue’s rules apply. Your own relief depends on your income and your tax rate.
40%
If you pay tax at the higher rate
Relief on care costs within the limit may be worth up to 40% of what you paid.
20%
If you pay tax at the standard rate
Relief on care costs within the limit may be worth up to 20% of what you paid.
60/40
If two of you share the cost
If one of you pays 60% of the care costs and the other pays 40%, each may claim on their own share, at their own rate.
€75,000
If costs go over the limit
If one person’s care costs more than €75,000 in a year, relief is given on €75,000 for that year.
How to claim the relief
You claim from Revenue, and Revenue says the quickest way is through myAccount. You can claim for the current year or for any of the previous four years.
Keep your records
Keep every invoice and proof of payment for the care, and anything that shows the nature of the incapacity and when it began. Revenue asks you to keep your paperwork for six years.
Claim in myAccount or on ROS
For a past year, open PAYE Services in myAccount and review your tax for that year. Request a statement of liability, complete the income tax return and choose Employing a Carer under You and your family. If you file a Form 11, claim it on your return in ROS.
Send Form HK1 if asked
Revenue may ask you to complete Form HK1, its claim for an allowance for employing a carer. You can also send the form to your Revenue office instead of claiming online.
What Form HK1 asks for
Your name and PPSN
The name of the person cared for, and how they’re related to you
The nature of the incapacity and the date it began
The care provider’s name and employer PAYE registration number, and the date the care began
Your cost for the year, after any HSE payments
The share of the cost you paid, as a percentage
Provider details for your claim
If your loved one’s care is with UIH, call the office and we’ll give you the details about us that the form asks for.
Revenue says most people who claim online get any refund due within five working days.
How it compares with other help
Three supports often get mixed up. This is how they differ, from Revenue’s and the HSE’s published guidance.
Relief for employing a carer
What it is
Income tax relief on what you pay for your own care or a family member’s
Home Carer Tax Credit
What it is
A tax credit for a married couple or civil partners where one partner cares for a dependent person
HSE Home Support Service
What it is
Home support from the HSE or an HSE-approved provider
Who it’s for
People who pay for care for themselves or a family member who is totally incapacitated
Who it’s for
Jointly assessed couples caring for a child they get Child Benefit for, someone aged 65 or over, or someone permanently incapacitated
Who it’s for
Mainly people aged 65 or over who need help to stay at home or to come home from hospital. Some younger people may qualify too.
What it’s worth
Relief at your marginal rate, 20% or 40%, on up to €75,000 of costs a year for each person cared for
What it’s worth
A set credit each year, reduced when the home carer’s own income goes over a limit
What it’s worth
Free, whatever your income, with or without a medical card
With private care
Can cover the private care you pay for. HSE-funded hours are left out.
With private care
It has its own rules. Ask Revenue how it fits with a claim for employing a carer.
With private care
Hours beyond what the HSE offers are paid for privately, and that cost may qualify for the relief.
Private care through UIH has no HSE assessment queue, and our carers work alongside any HSE hours your loved one already gets.
Questions about tax relief
Can we claim if care is arranged through UIH?
Revenue gives the relief on care from commercial home care providers, so care arranged through us may qualify. The other conditions still apply, including the test that the person is totally incapacitated. Check your own position with Revenue.
What if the person being cared for pays little or no tax?
A spouse, civil partner or relative who pays for the care may be able to claim instead, on what they pay and at their own marginal rate. The relief follows whoever actually pays the cost.
Can more than one of us claim?
Yes. If two or more of you share the cost, each of you may claim on the share you pay. Together, the claims stay within the €75,000 limit for that person.
Does HSE home support affect the claim?
Relief is only on the cost you pay. Care funded by the HSE or a local authority doesn’t count, so Form HK1 asks for your cost after any HSE payments. Private hours you pay for alongside HSE support may qualify.
Is this the same as the Home Carer Tax Credit?
They’re separate. The Home Carer Tax Credit is for a married couple or civil partners, jointly assessed, where one partner cares for a dependent person. Relief for employing a carer is on the cost of paying for care. Ask Revenue how each applies to you.
How far back can we claim?
Claims must be made within four years after the end of the tax year you paid for the care in. If care started some time ago, you may be able to claim for earlier years too.
Do we become the carer’s employer?
Your carer is employed by UIH, and we handle their PAYE and PRSI. Revenue says that when you pay a provider who pays the carer, you have no further tax obligations. If you employ a carer directly, you become their employer and need to register with Revenue.
Does it matter what the carer helps with?
Revenue gives no relief for a carer employed as a housekeeper only. Our carers help with personal care, meals, medication prompts and reminders, getting about the home, and company.
Can UIH tell us whether we qualify?
Only Revenue can confirm that. Our care team can explain how the relief works and give you the provider details Form HK1 asks for. For your own position, check with Revenue.
The guidance we used
We wrote this page from Revenue’s and the HSE’s published guidance, read in October 2026. Rules can change, and only Revenue can confirm what you can claim. These are the pages we used.
Employing a carer (Revenue)
Amount of relief and how to claim (Revenue)
Restrictions (Revenue)
Two or more people paying (Revenue)
Tax obligations when employing a carer (Revenue)
Form HK1 (Revenue, PDF)
Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-20 (Revenue, PDF)
Home Carer Tax Credit (Revenue)
Home Support Service for older people (HSE)
A carer lives in your home and is close by, day and night.
Set hours of help with personal care, meals and appointments.
A carer who stays awake through the night, ready to help.
Short-term cover so a family carer can take a proper break.
What shapes the cost of care, what every quote includes and how to get one.
Hiring a carer yourself, an introduction agency, HSE home support or UIH, side by side.
Tell us what’s needed at home and our care team will give you a clear quote.