Stay and Spend Tax Credit

The Stay and Spend Tax Credit Scheme allows you to claim a certain amount of tax back on accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drink bought between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021. This spending is known as qualifying expenditure.

Under the scheme:

• A transaction must be at least €25
• You can submit receipts up to a total of €625, or €1,250 for a jointly-assessed married couple
• The maximum tax credit you can get is €125, or up to €250 for a jointly-assessed married couple

You do not need to have been on a ‘staycation’ to avail of the scheme – see ‘who is entitled to claim?’ below.

To check if a business took part in the scheme, see Revenue’s list of qualifying service providers.

Any taxpayer who spends at least €25 in a single transaction on ‘qualifying expenditure’ between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021 is eligible to claim the Stay and Spend tax credit.

You do not need to have been on a ‘staycation’ to avail of the scheme. You can claim for expenses you paid in your local area if they qualify.

You can claim on the following expenses:

• Accommodation
• Food and non-alcoholic drink

The minimum spend per transaction is €25. You must have spent the money between 1 October 2020 and 30 April 2021.

Accommodation

Qualifying accommodation is accommodation that is registered with Fáilte Ireland, including:

• Hotels, guest houses, B&Bs
• Self-catering
• Caravan parks, camping parks and holiday camps

Food and non-alcoholic drink

Food and drinks served in a café, restaurant, hotel or pub can also qualify for relief.

The following expenses do not apply:

• Takeaway food
• Alcoholic drinks
• Drinks (either alcoholic or non-alcoholic) served without food
• Amounts below €25

You can check that your accommodation or food and drink provider is participating in the scheme using Revenue’s list of qualifying service providers.

The Stay and Spend tax relief is given at the standard rate of 20% up to a maximum refund of €125 per person, or €250 for a jointly-assessed married couple.

The amount of qualifying expenses is capped at a total of €625 per person, or €1,250 for a jointly-assessed married couple.

Where a bill is split between two or more people, you should only include the share of the bill which you actually paid in your claim. If possible, where a bill is split between two or more customers, service providers should give each customer an individual receipt for the services they have paid for.

You can only claim for Stay and Spend expenses if you have receipts to prove your claim.

You do this in two stages:

• Stage 1: Submit your receipts
• Stage 2: Make an electronic claim for the Stay and Spend tax credit

Stage 1: Submit your receipts

You can use the receipts tracker service in Revenue's myAccount to store your receipt details online.

You can continue to add receipts until you reach the cap on expenditure of €625, or €1,250 for a jointly-assessed married couple.

Stage 2: Make an electronic claim

If you pay tax through PAYE you can make your claim by submitting the Income tax return (Form 12) for the 2020 period in myAccount.

If you are self-employed you can make your claim by submitting the Form 11 for the 2020 period in ROS.

Both Form 11 and Form 12 for the 2020 period are available since 1 January 2021. You should submit your receipts (as proof of expenditure) before you submit your return – see ‘Stage 1’ above.

You can get a step by step guide on how to upload a receipt and submit a claim for the Stay and Spend tax credit in Revenue's Tax and Duty manual (pdf).

The Stay and Spend tax credit will reduce the amount of income tax you have to pay (known as your income tax liability). The credit is deducted after all other allowances, deductions or reliefs have been given to you.

If the tax credit is higher than your income tax liability in the year of assessment, any excess credit can be taken away from the USC you have to pay in that same year.

The credit can be used to reduce your liability to income tax and USC in the year of assessment to nil. In cases where the tax credit available is higher than your combined liabilities to income tax and USC in the year of assessment, you will be unable to fully use the credit due to you.

Read more information on how your tax is calculated.

You can get information on the Stay and Spend Scheme on revenue.ie or from PAYE Lo-call service.

You can get more information about how to register for and access myAccount or ROS, and how to submit a tax return through myAccount or ROS on Revenue’s website.