Up to 61,000 stay-at-home parents may be due a tax-back bonanza worth up to €4,000 each — but are not claiming it.

In his Budget speech last Tuesday, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe announced a massive €300 rise in the €1,500-a-year tax credit for home carers.

He said this is for ‘80,000 families where one spouse works primarily in the home to care for children or other dependants’.

The home carer credit is designed so that these families are not penalised when someone stays at home to mind the children.

However, Extra.ie can reveal that there are at least 147,000 such couples with children, according to the Central Statistics Office’s latest figures.

When challenged on the apparent discrepancy of the minister’s 80,000 estimate, his press office admitted that in fact 86,000 people are already getting the credit. However, there are 147,000 married couples with children who would potentially qualify, according to CSO figures. This means there are around 61,000 single-income families who may be due this valuable credit but are not claiming it.

They could all claim a rebate for tax refunds going back up to four years, worth up to €4,110 each on average.

The maximum payout would easily top €200million if all 61,000 who are apparently eligible claimed the credit. Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath has called on the Government to do more to promote this tax credit.

Revenue has said it has made a concerted effort to inform taxpayers of this entitlement and proactively suggest it to suitable people on its systems. However, anecdotal data suggests that the credit is at best misunderstood and frequently unknown, according to Eileen Devereux of Taxback.com.

Previous surveys by Mummypages.ie and Taxback.com showed two-thirds of people were unaware of it. ‘Tuesday’s announcement had good news for families with the €300 increase in the home carers’ tax credit now worth €1,500 a year,’ said Ms Devereux. ‘But this increase is no good if people aren’t aware that they are entitled to it,’ ‘In 2016, we highlighted this lack of awareness amongst Irish households.

‘The Revenue figures reveal that since then, there has been an increase in uptake, but there are still tens of thousands of people out there who aren’t getting it.’ With childcare costs per child topping €9,000 annually in Dublin, the availability of this tax break could be a key factor in deciding whether one parent can afford to work as a carer in the home. John Lowe, author of The Money Doctor finance guide, is not surprised at the lack of uptake.

‘I would think it is more out of ignorance than apathy that this credit is not being claimed,’ he said. ‘There is so much to take in, what we can or not claim… tax credits, allowances, reliefs… it can all be a little confusing.’

Carers who earn up to €7,200 get the full credit of €1,200 this year and €1,500 next year. For incomes above that, and up to €9,600, there is a reduced credit.

In 2016, the maximum home carer credit was €1,000 and the average claimed was €907. The previous year, the respective numbers were €810 and €753. Part of the problem is that it is confused with carer’s allowance, a welfare payment for people who look after an incapacitated person.

There was a spike in home carer credit claimants, from 80,900 in 2014 to 85,900 in 2016. A Department of Finance spokesman said that ordinarily a claim for the credit is made by the individual, but added that ‘in the case of PAYE taxpayers, Revenue has, for a number of years, taken steps to automatically allow the credit without the person having to make a claim, wherever possible’.