Unlock Your Home’s Potential with the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme

Since the launch of the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) scheme by the Government in 2013, homeowners in Ireland have undertaken over 20,000 home renovations totalling more than €385m.

According to recent figures from Revenue, window replacement, kitchen refitting, extensions and general repairs are among the most popular jobs people are carrying out under this home improvement scheme.

Despite this, the number of householders who have yet to avail of this home renovation tax incentive, which provides a rebate on the VAT they pay on your home improvement work, is in the thousands.

According to Revenue, employment and self-employment in the construction sector has been gradually boosted by this surge in home renovations due to the home renovation tax credit. This data is also helping them gather more information in relation to construction sector activity, allowing them to better target under-the-counter jobs through more focused compliance programmes.

For construction work ranging between €4,405 to €30,000 before VAT, landowners and householders can get a tax credit of between €595 and €4,050 back against their income. This home improvement grant is only available if the specifications of the work is recorded by the contractor on Revenue's HRI system in advance.

In February, a notice was issued by Revenue to more than 11,000 homeowners who were entitled to claim their tax credit for work carried out but had not yet done so. This lead to a substantial number of homeowners filing claims following this. So far more than 6,800 homeowners have claimed HRI tax credits to the value of approximately €13m using Revenue’s online system. Half of this is to be credited against their 2015 taxes while the remainder will be credited in 2016.

However, there are 4,500 people remaining who have still to submit their application to claim their home renovation tax credit. This can be done online and as with other tax reliefs, they have four years to claim their tax back.

For more information on the Home Renovation Improvement (HRI) scheme, check out Revenue.ie.

If you’re considering undertaking a home renovation project of your own, AIB has the financial support you may need to make your vision a reality. Visit our website today to get more information and see our range personal loans.

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