Tuition fees tax relief calculator
Tax relief on third-level fees is 20% of your qualifying fees, after the first €3,000 is disregarded on a full-time course or €1,500 on a part-time one. Qualifying fees are capped at €7,000 per person, per course. Enter what you paid and the calculator applies all three rules.
Add every course you paid for. The €3,000 disregard is subtracted once across the whole claim, not once per course.
Tax relief due
€400
- Qualifying fees
- €5,000
- Less disregard (full-time)
- −€3,000
- Relievable amount
- €2,000
- Relief at 20%
- €400
The rule people get wrong
The disregard is subtracted once per claim — not once per student and not once per course. Revenue states it plainly: "if you have paid fees for more than one course or student, you only subtract the disregard amount once."
It matters more than it sounds. One full-time course at €5,000 gives €400 of relief. A second course at €5,000 in the same claim gives €1,400 — not €800, because the €3,000 comes off the combined total rather than each course. Families paying for two students are the most common case, and claiming them separately is the mistake.
How the calculation works
Three steps, in this order. Cap each course's fees at €7,000. Add the capped figures together. Subtract the disregard once — €3,000 full-time, €1,500 part-time — and take 20% of what is left.
The relief is given at the standard rate, so it reduces your tax bill by 20% of the relievable amount rather than refunding the fees themselves. You need to have paid at least that much income tax in the year for the relief to be worth its full value.
What qualifies
Tuition fees for an approved course at an approved college, including the Student Contribution. You do not have to be the student — a parent paying for a child claims it in their own return. Undergraduate, postgraduate, and certain foreign and distance courses are covered.
Examination fees, registration fees and administration fees do not qualify. Neither does any part of the fees covered by a grant, a scholarship, or an employer.
How to claim it
Through Revenue myAccount: sign in, open the Income Tax return for the year in question, and enter the fees under tuition fees in the tax credits and reliefs section. Keep the receipts — Revenue can ask for them.
The four-year rule applies, so in 2026 you can still claim for 2022 onward. If you have never claimed, that is potentially four separate years of relief. Other tax you may be owed →