Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 194AA

Exemption of certain childcare support payments

Section 194AA exempts from income tax certain childcare support payments made to or on behalf of parents and guardians under the National Childcare Scheme and various other childcare support programmes.

• Payments made under the National Childcare Scheme (provided for by section 15 of the Childcare Support Act 2018) are fully exempt from income tax in the hands of a parent, guardian, or their cohabitant.
• Payments made under Community Childcare Subvention schemes and Training and Employment Childcare are also exempt from income tax, whether made before or after 1 January 2019.
• Exempt payments are not reckoned in computing the income of the parent, guardian, or their cohabitant for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts, and there is no requirement to declare them in an income tax return.
• The exemption covers six named childcare programmes administered by or on behalf of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in addition to the National Childcare Scheme.