Pensions
How to claim tax relief on pension contributions
Last updated 16 October 2026
Payroll contributions get relief automatically. Payments you make yourself are claimed in myAccount or on Form 11, and can be backdated until 31 October.
How you get income tax relief depends on how the money reaches the pension.
Through payroll: nothing to claim
Your employer may take contributions from your pay for a company pension, an additional voluntary contribution (AVC) or a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA). These come off before income tax is worked out. The relief is in your payslip already. USC and PRSI are still charged on the full pay.
Paid yourself: you claim it
You may pay into a PRSA, a retirement annuity contract or an AVC plan from your own bank account. Then Revenue doesn't know about it until you tell them.
- Employees: sign in to myAccount and choose ‘Review your tax for the previous 4 years’. Request a Statement of Liability (Revenue's end-of-year summary), then ‘Complete Income Tax Return’. On the Tax Credits and Reliefs page, under ‘Your job’, choose AVCs or PRSAs and enter the details.
- Self-employed, or anyone filing Form 11: enter the payments in ROS. On the 2025 Form 11, retirement annuity contracts (RACs) go at line 507 and PRSA payments you made yourself at 508(d). AVCs not deducted by your employer go at 241, and the total relief claimed at 510.
Revenue needs the provider's certificate or a detailed receipt showing the date, amount, type of pension and policy number.
Backdating: pay by 31 October, claim for last year
A payment to a PRSA or retirement annuity made between 1 January and 31 October can count as paid in the previous tax year. You claim it on that year's return. The 2025 Form 11 has its own lines for this (507(c) and 508(e)). It lets you use last year's unused limit and last year's tax rate.
Someone aged 38 on €60,000 paid €3,000 through payroll in 2025. In October 2026 they pay €2,500 into a PRSA and backdate it to 2025:
| Limit for 2025 (20% of €60,000) | €12,000.00 |
| Paid through payroll in 2025 | €3,000.00 |
| Paid into the PRSA in October 2026 | €2,500.00 |
| Room left under the 2025 limit | €6,500.00 |
| Relief to claim for 2025 | €1,000.00 |
All €2,500.00 comes off income taxed at 40%, so the claim is €1,000.00.
How far back you can claim
You can claim a repayment of tax for up to four years. A claim for 2022 must be made by the end of 2026.
The pension contribution calculator works out the relief to claim and lists the Form 11 lines. It can also prepare a claim schedule to keep with your records.
Work it out
Sources
- Revenue: How to claim tax relief on pension contributions (checked 16/10/2026)
- Revenue: Tax relief on pension contributions: overview (relief at your marginal rate, no USC or PRSI relief) (checked 20/10/2026)
- Revenue: Tax relief limits on pension contributions (age-related percentages, €115,000 earnings limit) (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Form 11 2025: Tax Return and Self-Assessment (checked 24/10/2026)
- Revenue: Four year rule: claims for 2022 must be made by 31 December 2026 (checked 25/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.