Shares from work
Save As You Earn (SAYE) and approved share schemes: income tax free, USC and PRSI still due
Last updated 16 October 2026
Save up to €500 a month for three, five or seven years and buy shares at up to 25% off. The gain is free of income tax; USC and PRSI still apply.
Revenue-approved share schemes give employees shares or options with no income tax on the benefit, though USC and employee PRSI are still deducted through payroll. The main ones are Save As You Earn (SAYE) and Approved Profit-Sharing Schemes (APSS). The employer needs Revenue approval and must offer the scheme to all qualifying staff on similar terms.
How SAYE works
- Your employer grants an option to buy shares at a fixed price. It can be the market value on the date of grant, or up to 25% below it.
- You save a fixed amount from your take-home pay, between €12 and €500 a month, with an approved bank, for three, five or seven years.
- At the end you can use the savings to buy the shares at the option price. If the shares are worth less, you can take the savings back.
- Any interest or bonus on the savings is free of income tax and DIRT (the tax on savings interest).
The details are in Revenue's Share Schemes Manual, chapter 12.
An example
An employee earning €55,000 saves €250 a month for 3 years, €9,000 in all, under options priced at €6 a share. That buys 1,500 shares, worth €10 each when the option is exercised in 2026:
| Gain on exercise | €6,000.00 |
| Income tax | €0.00 |
| USC | €180.00 |
| Employee PRSI | €252.00 |
| Tax on the gain | €432.00 |
As an ordinary option, the same gain would also have cost €2,400.00 in income tax. The relief is lost if the option is exercised within three years of grant, with limited exceptions.
Approved Profit-Sharing Schemes
Under an APSS, a trust holds shares given to employees. They are free of income tax if kept in the trust for at least two years and not sold within three. Shares disposed of between two and three years are subject to income tax. USC and PRSI apply when the shares are appropriated.
When you sell
Capital Gains Tax applies to a gain on selling the shares from either scheme, after the yearly exemption. File a return for the sale, even with no tax due.
To compare schemes in your pay package, use the whole pay package calculator. For share purchase plan shares and options, use the shares from work calculator.
Work it out
Sources
- Revenue: Unapproved share options (PAYE on exercises from 1 January 2024; RTSO before) (checked 16/10/2026)
- Revenue: Share awards and RSUs (taxed through PAYE; no employer PRSI on share-settled awards) (checked 20/10/2026)
- Revenue: How to calculate CGT (checked 25/10/2026)
- Revenue: Standard rates and thresholds of USC (checked 25/10/2026)
General information, not tax advice. HeyPenny is not a tax agent.