Just one in four renters have claimed their €500 tax credit so far this year.
The vast majority of the 120,000 claims to Revenue have come from tenants themselves and not from parents paying their children’s rent.
The figures also show the number of people filing tax returns is up 32% on the same month last year, with 458,000 tax returns processed in January alone.
In a statement Revenue's Ntional PAYE Manager Aisling Ní Mhaoileoin said, "we have already seen a good level of engagement on Rent Tax Credit. Over the course of the last month, over 120,000 claims for Rent Tax Credit have been made by PAYE taxpayers on their Income Tax return for 2022.
"This number is second only to medical expenses in terms of volume of claims. This is particularly significant given that this is a new tax credit announced as part of Budget 2023.
"For those who may not be aware, I would like to highlight that, unlike usual tax credits introduced by way of the Budget, the Rent Tax Credit applies retrospectively for 2022.
"The preliminary statistics show that the vast majority of claimants to date, some 90%, have indicated that they are in a tenancy that is registered with the Residential Tenancy Board.
"The remaining 10% report being in a ‘rent a room’ or ‘digs’ situation."
