Reviewed by: MyTaxRebate Team | Last updated: 2026-02-26 | Checked against Revenue TDM Part 15-01-41.
Quick Answer
The majority of SPCCC rejections and delays are caused by a small number of recurring, preventable mistakes: submitting without adequate evidence, misunderstanding who the correct claimant is, getting the year-level facts wrong for complex or changing circumstances, and failing to address address or status inconsistencies in Revenue's records before filing. These are not obscure technical errors — they are practical preparation failures that a structured review process consistently prevents.
What this page covers
- The most frequent SPCCC filing errors
- Submitting without adequate evidence of the qualifying child's residence
- Sending an unorganised multi-year bundle without year-by-year labelling
- Failing to check Revenue records for address and status inconsistencies before submitting
- Evidence and claimant role mistakes
- Address inconsistencies that trigger avoidable Revenue information requests
- Claiming as principal carer without confirming the residence facts support that position
- Both parents unknowingly claiming the same child in the same year
- Timing and year-level errors
- Using a single description of circumstances across all years when facts changed
- Claiming for years where a disqualifying event — such as cohabitation — occurred
- Missing the child's qualifying age or education status as of 1 January of each year
SPCCC Key Facts
- Most SPCCC rejections and delays are caused by a small number of recurring, preventable errors.
- The most common cause of rejection is insufficient evidence of the qualifying child's principal residence with the claimant.
- Revenue cross-references its own records — stale address entries, old cohabitation flags, or outdated status can trigger queries even when entitlement is genuine.
- Multi-year claims require year-by-year evidence organisation; unorganised bundles routinely generate information requests.
- Both parents unknowingly submitting claims for the same child in the same year results in both being refused.
- Mistakes caught before submission are resolved in days; mistakes identified after Revenue queries can add months to the timeline.
Key Takeaways
- Most SPCCC rejections are caused by a small number of recurring, preventable preparation errors.
- Check Revenue records for address and status inconsistencies before submitting, not after receiving a query.
- Year-by-year evidence organisation is essential for multi-year backdated claims to avoid information requests.
The Most Frequent SPCCC Filing Errors
Revenue receives a significant volume of SPCCC claims each year, and the errors that generate information requests and refusals are remarkably consistent. The most common is submitting a claim without adequate evidence of the qualifying child's residence with the claimant. Revenue cannot simply accept a statement that the child lived with you; it needs records that confirm the address and care arrangement for the relevant tax year. Our SPCCC evidence checklist details the specific records that directly confirm each eligibility condition.
A second very common error is submitting a multi-year backdated claim with a single mixed bundle of documents that is not organised by year. Revenue processes each year individually, and a submission that does not make clear which records relate to which year forces Revenue to do this sorting themselves, frequently resulting in an information request.
Third, many claimants do not check their Revenue record before submitting. If the record shows an old address, an outdated marital status, or a cohabitation flag that has not been cleared, Revenue will query the claim based on those inconsistencies even if the underlying entitlement is genuine.
Evidence Mistakes: The Most Costly Category
Evidence errors are the leading cause of SPCCC rejection, and they are almost always avoidable. The most damaging evidence mistake is submitting records that do not directly and clearly support the specific eligibility condition being asserted. For example, submitting a single utility bill as proof of the child's residence — without corroborating school or GP records — leaves a significant gap that Revenue is likely to query.
Address inconsistency is particularly problematic. If the school enrolment shows one address, the GP registration shows a different address, and the claimant's Revenue record shows a third, Revenue will request clarification before processing the claim. Checking that all relevant records are consistent, and resolving discrepancies before submitting, avoids this entirely. If a claim is rejected as a result of evidence errors, see our SPCCC rejection and appeal guide for the steps to recover it.
For backdated claims, the challenge is often that the best evidence for older years is harder to obtain. The mistake is to substitute thin evidence for a period with a general statement rather than making a genuine effort to locate what is available. Even partial, consistent records are far more effective than assertions without documentation.
Claimant Role Errors
SPCCC can only be claimed by the qualifying individual with whom the child resides as their principal carer. This seems straightforward, but in shared-custody or post-separation situations, many claims are submitted by the wrong parent — either because the claimant incorrectly believes their level of involvement qualifies them, or because they are unaware of how the principal-carer rule works.
A particularly costly version of this error is where both parents claim the credit for the same child in the same year, without either being aware that the other is claiming. Revenue refuses both claims in this situation and initiates a claimant determination process. Our guide to primary and secondary SPCCC claimants explains why concurrent claims are refused and how Revenue reaches its determination.
Secondary claimant errors are also common. A parent who intends to claim via the relinquishment route but submits a direct claim without the primary claimant having first completed the SPCC1 process will have their claim refused. Our SPCCC relinquishment and SPCC1 guide explains this prerequisite in full.
Timing and Year-Level Mistakes
The SPCCC is assessed year by year. A mistake that many claimants make is applying a consistent narrative across years when the facts were actually different in each year. This is most often a problem in backdated claims, where a claimant submits three or four years with the same description of circumstances even though household or care facts changed during that period.
Another timing mistake is attempting to claim for a year in which a disqualifying event occurred — such as a period of cohabitation — without acknowledging it. If Revenue identifies the disqualifying event from its own records, it creates a much more serious difficulty than if the claimant had addressed it directly in the submission.
Tax year boundaries also catch claimants. If the qualifying child turned 18 during the tax year and was no longer in full-time education, the credit may not be available for that year or may be limited depending on when the change occurred. Checking the child's status as of 1 January of each claimed year before submitting is a simple check that many claims skip.
How to File SPCCC Correctly the First Time
The common thread in all avoidable SPCCC errors is the same: a lack of preparation before submission. Claimants who check their Revenue record for inconsistencies, organise their evidence year by year, confirm the claimant-role facts before filing, and consider whether any year had unusual circumstances before submitting will avoid the majority of the errors described on this page. The SPCCC eligibility decision tree provides a structured four-step check for each year before you commit to a submission.
A professional review before submission adds a layer of scrutiny that catches the issues that are easy to miss when you are filing your own tax records. MyTaxRebate prepares SPCCC claims with year-by-year evidence organisation, claimant-role assessment, and Revenue record verification as standard. Our clients avoid the most common errors because we look for them before they cause a problem.
Mistake-driven scenarios
Valid claim rejected due to poor evidence organisation
A parent with three years of genuine SPCCC entitlement submitted a large bundle of documents covering all three years without clear year-by-year labelling. Revenue sent a query requesting the evidence to be reorganised and specified by year. The client responded with a properly structured pack, and all three years were subsequently accepted — but the information request added six weeks to the processing time.
Both parents claimed the same year without knowing
A recently separated couple had not discussed their tax affairs. Both independently submitted SPCCC claims for the same child for the same year. Revenue refused both and issued a claimant determination request. The parent who was the principal carer — with consistent school, GP, and address records — eventually had their claim accepted, but the process took four months longer than it would have had only one valid claim been submitted.
Backdated claim caught by an uncleared address issue
A claimant submitted a four-year backdated SPCCC claim. Three years were accepted promptly. The fourth — the oldest year — was queried because Revenue's records showed a different address for the claimant during that period, even though the claimant had actually lived at the correct address all along. After producing tenancy records and bank statements showing their actual address during that year, the claim was accepted, but only after a delay of several months.
Common mistakes to avoid
Not checking Revenue records before submitting. Outstanding address discrepancies, stale status flags, or old cohabitation records on your Revenue profile will trigger queries even when your underlying entitlement is real. Check your myAccount record before submitting and resolve any inconsistencies proactively — not after Revenue raises them.
Submitting the same narrative for all years without year-specific review. Circumstances change from year to year. Applying a single description of your situation to multiple tax years without confirming the facts were actually the same in each year leads to inaccuracies that Revenue may identify from its own records. Review each year individually before including it in a claim.
Skipping the claimant-role check in shared-care situations. In any situation where a child's care is shared between two households, you must confirm before submitting that you are genuinely the principal carer — the person with whom the child primarily lives. Submitting without this check risks both a refusal and a claimant dispute that takes months to resolve.
When this may not apply
- Core SPCCC eligibility conditions are absent regardless of preparation. Careful preparation improves the quality of a valid claim but cannot create entitlement where the underlying conditions — qualifying child residence, personal status, no cohabitation — are genuinely not met.
- Available documents directly contradict the circumstances being claimed. If key records show a different address, a different primary carer, or cohabitation during the claimed period, submitting conflicting evidence makes the position worse rather than better. The conflict needs to be resolved first.
Related SPCCC guides
- Complete SPCCC guide for Ireland
- the evidence checklist that prevents these errors
- how to confirm the correct claimant role
- how in-year changes create year-level errors
- recovery steps when an error has already caused rejection
- the full SPCCC eligibility conditions behind each check
- the step-by-step claim process after fixing any issues
More SPCCC guides
Do not leave this to chance
If your SPCCC case has any complexity — shared custody, a rejected claim, backdated years, or household changes — the most reliable path is professional handling. We build, submit, and defend claims with a no-refund-no-fee model.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single most common reason SPCCC claims are rejected?
Insufficient or inconsistent evidence of the qualifying child's principal residence with the claimant is the most frequent cause of SPCCC rejection. Revenue needs records that directly confirm the child lived at your address during the tax year — school enrolment, GP registration, and consistent address documents are the most effective evidence for this condition.
Can a rejected SPCCC claim be corrected and resubmitted?
Yes, in most cases. A rejection based on an evidence gap or a procedural error can usually be addressed through a Revenue review submission with improved evidence. A rejection based on a genuine absence of entitlement is harder to overcome, but a professional assessment of the specific reason for refusal is the right starting point.
How does MyTaxRebate reduce the risk of these mistakes?
We review each year individually before submitting, check Revenue records for inconsistencies, confirm the claimant-role facts, and organise evidence in a structured year-by-year format. This systematic approach catches the errors on this page before they cause a rejection or delay.
Official Revenue Guidance
For authoritative SPCCC rules, refer to Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-41. This is the primary source document that defines all eligibility conditions, the relinquishment process, and the technical rules governing the credit.