Who qualifies
A person whose spouse or civil partner died, with enhanced credits in the year of bereavement and in the five years following if they have dependent children.
How to claim
Notify Revenue through myAccount Manage My Record. Upload the death certificate or quote the GRO reference. The credit is then applied to the surviving partner RPN automatically.
Detailed explanation
Bereavement is recognised through several layered credits. In the year of death, the widowed person is taxed as if married for that whole year, retaining the 4,000 euro joint Personal Tax Credit. From the year following bereavement onwards the standalone Widowed Person Credit is 2,540 euro where there are no dependent children, and 2,000 euro, the same as the single Personal Credit, where the widowed person has a qualifying child and so also claims the Single Person Child Carer Credit. A separate Widowed Parent Credit ladder is layered on top in the five years immediately after the death: 3,600 euro in year one, 3,150 in year two, 2,700 in year three, 2,250 in year four and 1,800 in year five, assuming a qualifying child remains in the household. After year five the widowed person reverts to the standard credit for their circumstances but can also claim the Single Person Child Carer Credit if they meet its conditions. The Single Person Child Carer Credit and the Widowed Parent Credit can be claimed simultaneously because they target different policy aims. There is no income test on the basic widowed credit. Joint assessment with a deceased spouse ceases on death, so the year following bereavement is filed under single assessment using the new credits. Unused tax bands from the deceased do not carry forward beyond the year of death. Revenue offers a dedicated Bereavement Helpline and will issue a fresh Statement of Liability covering the year of death once the estate paperwork is filed.
Worked example
Maire was widowed in 2025 with two children at home. In 2026 she earns 45,000 euro. Because she claims the Single Person Child Carer Credit her standard rate band is 48,000, so all 45,000 is taxed at 20 percent = 9,000. Less Personal Credit 2,000, PAYE Credit 2,000, Widowed Parent Year One Credit 3,600 and Single Person Child Carer Credit 1,900, a total of 9,500, leaves zero income tax. USC of about 883 and PRSI of about 1,907 mean her net pay is around 42,210 euro.