#627 Is the Taxman Taking the Care Out of Caring?

Today on the podcast, Niall is joined by Jackie Flannery from the Irish Rural Farmers Association to discuss the growing backlash from family carers following a major move by the Revenue Commissioners.

Revenue has written to 34,000 carers, confirming that Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Benefit have always been taxable, and that from 1 January last year the tax is now applied in real time. Carers who did not previously declare the payment as income are now being told they may face back-tax bills, some of them significant.

Carers are pushing back hard. Many argue they provide round-the-clock care for payments of just:

€270 per week for caring for one person under 66

€308 per week for caring for someone aged 66 or over

They question how an allowance they rely on to survive can now result in unexpected tax demands years later.

Revenue maintains the payment is taxable income and subject to means testing, while critics online ask why carers should be treated differently to other taxpayers.

Niall and Jackie examine the human impact, the fairness of the system, and the wider implications for rural and family carers — and Niall asks listeners to weigh in:

👉 Should the Carer’s Allowance be exempt from tax regardless of household income, or should it remain means-tested and taxable?

Callers are invited to have their say.