Filenews 15 January 2026 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The peculiarities in the composition of a family and especially when it comes to single-parent families in relation to the tax deductions they will receive from income tax from the tax year 2026 are something that particularly troubles the taxpayers of the Tax Department, who prepared many scenarios to manage different cases. The goal is to make a proper distribution of discounts.
The problems that arise mainly concern divorced people who have joint care of their children, who do not live with either the father or the mother. They also concern those who live without a civil partnership but have children from a previous marriage, those who have entered into a civil partnership and many other complicated cases.
In all cases concerning the composition of the family, the discounts in relation to the number of children, students, interest on loans, rents and green investments in the main residence will also benefit single-parent families.
Definition
According to the explanatory guide of the Tax Department, for the purposes of calculating the gross family income, a single-parent family is considered:
- a family in which a parent lives with at least one dependent child and who lives either without a spouse or a civil partner, or without another person with whom they have children in common, because they are an unmarried parent, widowed, divorced or because the other parent has been declared missing by the court.
- a family in which a married parent lives alone with at least one dependent child because the other parent is serving a prison sentence of six months or more.
Essentially, a family is considered single-parent only if the parent lives under the same roof as the dependent child and has custody of the child and does not have a spouse, a civil partner or another person with whom they have children in common.
The income criteria applied to all families will also apply to single-parent families. For families with 1 to 2 children the incomes should be up to 100,000, for families with 3 to 4 children the incomes should be up to €150,000 and for five children or more up to €200,000.
They will benefit from discounts of €1,000 for the first dependent child, €1,250 for the second child and €1,500 for each third additional dependent child.
Deductions of up to €2000 for mortgage interest and rents, in these cases the performing loan or residence must be owned or in the name of one partner or single person. The amount of the discount will be granted to each taxpayer.
The amount of discounts with examples
For single-parent families, the same income criteria are applied depending on the children and the amount of the discount provided to the single parent for each dependent child is doubled.
For example, a single parent who has three dependent children is entitled, if his total gross income does not exceed €150,000, to receive a discount of €7,500 (€2,000 for the first child, €2,500 for the second child and €3,000 for the third child), i.e. as is the case with other families.
In the event that the parent (father) has joint parental responsibility of a dependent child but does not live with the other parent-mother) he/she is entitled to the discount for the dependent child under conditions:
- If he is single, then the income criterion of €40,000 applies.
• If he/she is a member of a family, i.e. a spouse or cohabitant with a civil partnership, in which no other children live under the same roof, then the income criterion of €100,000 applies. - If he/she is a member of a family, i.e. a spouse or cohabitant, in which other children (either joint or of one of the two) live under the same roof, then the income criterion is applied depending on the children.
- If he/she lives with a cohabitant without a political cohabitation, with whom they have a common child, then he/she is a family member and the income criterion is applied depending on the children.
Other scenarios for granting tax deductions
- A divorced parent (e.g. a father) who lives alone (is a single person) and has two dependent children who live with the other parent (e.g. mother) and for whom he has joint parental responsibility. He also pays rent of €4,800 per year and has a gross income of €38,000. In this case, he is entitled to a tax deduction of €4,250, i.e. a discount of €1,000 for the first dependent child, €1,250 for the second dependent child and €2,000 for rents.
- A single mother with an annual income of €80,000 living with a dependent child paid interest on a mortgage on a primary residence of €5,000. In this case, the limit of €100.00 applies. The mother is entitled to the dependent child discount, which is doubled due to the fact that she is a single parent, of €2,000 for one dependent child. In addition, he is entitled to an interest deduction for a main residence loan of €2,000.
- A divorced father who has two dependents enters into a cohabitation agreement with another woman with whom he also has a child. The total income of the two is €140,000. and live with their three children in the same house that they rent for €9,000 a year. In this case, the father is entitled to a discount for dependent children of €3,750, i.e. (€1,000 for the first child, €1,250 for the second and €1,500 for the third). On the other hand, his partner will get a discount of €1,000 only for the child they had together. In addition, each cohabitant will receive a €2,000 discount on rents.
- Partners without a cohabitation agreement live with a common dependent and have an annual income of €88,000. In this case, the cohabitants are considered a family and therefore receive a discount of €1,000 each for the child.
- A divorced father with a child from a previous marriage, he has remarried and lives with his new wife and child in an apartment which they rent for €8,000 a year. In fact, in 2026 they also bought an electric vehicle worth €40,000. The annual income of the two is €110,000. Therefore, due to exceeding the limit of €100,000, they are not entitled to a single discount.
- Divorced father with a child who lives with his mother. The father lives in a rented house with a new partner without a cohabitation agreement with whom they did not have children, paying a rent of €8,000 per year. The father has an annual income of €37,000 and the partner €42,000. In this case they are not considered a family. The father will receive a tax deduction of €1,000 for the child and €2,000 for the rent. His partner, on the other hand, because her income exceeds the limit of €40,000 for single persons, will not receive a discount.
