Tax returns

Self-assessment in Ireland: who it applies to and how it works

Last updated 16 October 2026

If you are self-employed, or have more than €5,000 of taxable income outside PAYE, you register for self-assessment and file Form 11 each year.

Under PAYE, your employer works out and deducts your tax each pay day. Under self-assessment, you do it yourself. Once a year you file a return showing your income for the last year and work out the tax on it. You pay it, together with an advance for the current year. Someone in the system is called a chargeable person (it means you file your own tax return).

Who has to register

You must register if:

you are self-employed, as a sole trader or partner
your taxable income from outside PAYE is more than €5,000 a year, or your gross non-PAYE income (before costs) is more than €30,000
you are a proprietary director (you control more than 15% of a company you work for)

Revenue also expects you to register if your main income is rent, investment income, foreign income or pensions, maintenance payments, or gains from share options. Below the €5,000 and €30,000 limits, an employee can usually declare the extra income on Form 12 instead. The tax is then collected by reducing their credits. See Form 11 or Form 12.

Registering

Register online with the eRegistration service, or on Form TR1. Form 11 has to be filed online in most cases, so you will also need ROS access: see myAccount and ROS. If your other income stops, you can cancel the registration in ROS or on Form TRCN1.

The yearly cycle

Each autumn you file the last year's return and pay any balance for that year. By the same date you pay preliminary tax for the current year. For 2025 returns that is 31 October 2026, or 18 November 2026 if you both pay and file on ROS.

To avoid interest, preliminary tax must be at least the lowest of:

90% of this year's final tax
100% of last year's tax
105% of the year before last, if you pay by direct debit

In your first year in the system you can usually pay nothing, because 100% of the year before is nil. You may instead pay 90% of the first year's tax, which spreads the cost. Otherwise the second autumn brings the first year's full tax and the second year's preliminary tax together.

What you pay

Income tax at 20% and 40%, less your credits. The self-employed get the earned income credit of up to €2,000 in 2026. If you also have a job, the employee credit and this credit together can't exceed €2,000.
USC on all income once it passes €13,000, with an extra 3% on non-PAYE income over €100,000. See USC for the self-employed.
Class S PRSI on income of €5,000 or more. See Class S PRSI.

Records and checks

Revenue accepts your return as filed, but can check it later. You must keep the records behind it, such as invoices, receipts and bank statements, for six years: see keeping tax records. A late return adds a surcharge of 5% or 10% of the tax: see the late filing surcharge.

Our sole trader calculator works out the tax, USC and PRSI on your profit and labels each figure with its Form 11 line. The preliminary tax calculator finds the lowest safe payment.

Work it out

Sources

Revenue: Who should register for Income Tax self-assessment? (€5,000 net or €30,000 gross non-PAYE income) (checked 24/10/2026)
Revenue: Pay and file system: how does it work? (checked 25/10/2026)
Revenue: What is preliminary tax? (checked 25/10/2026)
Revenue: Form 11 2025: Tax Return and Self-Assessment (checked 24/10/2026)
Revenue: Earned Income Credit (checked 25/10/2026)
Department of Social Protection: PRSI Class S Rates (checked 16/10/2026)
Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 38-03-17: keeping records (s.886) (checked 20/10/2026)

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