Artists' Exemption: up to €50,000 a year free of income tax

Writers, composers, painters and sculptors can earn up to €50,000 a year from qualifying work free of income tax. USC and PRSI still apply. How to qualify.

The Artists' Exemption takes income from original and creative works of cultural or artistic merit out of income tax, up to €50,000 a year. It covers five categories: books and other writing, plays, musical compositions, paintings and similar pictures, and sculptures.

Getting a determination

Revenue decides whether a work qualifies, using guidelines drawn up by the Arts Council and the Minister. You apply on Form Artist 2 with samples and testimonials:

• a book: a published copy or the full electronic version
• a play: the script and a signed production contract
• music: links or a recording crediting you
• a painting or sculpture: six good-quality photographs and a short summary of your career

You must be resident in the EU, the European Economic Area or the UK. The exemption applies from the year you claim; income from sales in earlier years isn't exempt. Once one work is accepted, later works in the same category within the guidelines qualify too, except non-fiction books, which are decided one by one. You can appeal a refusal.

What income is covered

Income from selling or licensing the qualifying work, such as royalties and sales. Some other income can also be exempt: Arts Council bursaries paid to you directly, Aosdána Cnuas payments and sales abroad of qualifying works. So can Arts Council residencies to produce a qualifying work. Teaching and similar residencies are not.

USC and PRSI still apply

The exemption is from income tax only. You pay USC and PRSI on all the income, and a very high earner may be caught by the high earners' restriction. You may also need to register for VAT. For a self-employed artist with a €70,000 profit from qualifying works in 2026:

The figures assume a single person with no other income, taking the earned income credit; see USC for the self-employed and Class S PRSI.

Publication

If your work is accepted, Revenue publishes your name with the type and title of the work on its list of favourable determinations. That is a condition of the scheme. For how self-employed income is returned and paid, see self-assessment.

Work it out

• Sole trader tax return →
• Tax on side income →

Sources

• Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs (checked 25/10/2026)
• Revenue: Other rates of USC (3% surcharge on non-PAYE income over €100,000) (checked 25/10/2026)
• Department of Social Protection: PRSI Class S Rates (checked 16/10/2026)

General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.