Tax Back on College Fees

Did you know that you can get tax relief at the standard rate of 20% on tuition fees paid during the year?

How does it work?

You can claim tax relief on tuition fees paid for third level courses, however, you cannot claim tax relief on Examination or administration fees or any part of the tuition fees that is met directly or indirectly by a grant, a scholarship or otherwise, e.g. where your fees are reimbursed by an employer.

The maximum amount of fees (including the Student Contribution) that can qualify for tax relief is €7,000 per person per course (for the academic year 2015/2016). If you have paid tuition fees in respect of more than one individual attending college in an academic year, tax relief is due to you in respect of the fees paid for each person up to the maximum limit per course.

The relief can be granted for either a full-time or part-time course so long as they last for at least 2 years, and are approved by the Department of Education and Skills.

The first €3,000 for full-time and €1,500 for part-time courses is discarded when calculating the relief

PostGraduate Fees

Postgraduate courses must be for at least one academic year but not more than four academic years in duration and must lead to a postgraduate award based on either a thesis or an examination. The student must already have a primary degree or an equivalent qualification.

Information Technology and Foreign Language Courses

The relief is also available for fees paid for training courses in information technology and foreign languages (other than postgraduate courses) if the following conditions are met:

• The course involved must be less than two years
• It must result in the awarding of a certificate of competence
• The course must be approved by SOLAS.

Paying in Installments

Where fees are paid in instalments and any of the installments are paid in a tax year following the year in which approved course commenced, the relief for fees relating to that academic year may be granted either:

• in the tax year the course started, or
• in the tax year in which the instalment was paid.

However, relief will only be granted in respect of amounts actually paid, subject to the maximum relief available in that academic year.

How to Claim the Tax Relief

The relief can be claimed during the tax year once the fees have been paid. A revised Tax Credit Certificate showing the relief due will then be issued to you.

Alternatively a claim can be made at the end of the tax year by submitting your Form P60. Your income tax liability for the year will be reviewed and Revenue will make any refund that may be due to you.
If you are self-employed this tax credit is claimed by completing the Tuition Fees section on your annual tax return.
To claim the relief, complete the attached
claim form and forward it to your Revenue office.

A separate claim form must be completed where you are claiming relief in respect of more than one student.