Start-up Relief for Entrepreneurs (SURE): getting back tax you paid as an employee

Leaving a job to start a company? Start-up relief (SURE) can refund income tax from the previous six years on money you put into new shares in it.

Start-up Relief for Entrepreneurs (SURE) is for employees, or recent employees, who set up their own company and put their own money into it. It can turn income tax you paid in earlier years into cash for the new business. Revenue's guidance is Tax and Duty Manual 16-00-05.

Who qualifies

• In the three tax years before the year before you invest, your income was mainly from employment. Other income each year was no more than your employment income or €50,000, whichever is lower.
• You work full-time in the company for at least 12 months. You can keep up to 10 hours a week in an existing job.
• You buy new shares for cash, at least €250, and keep them for four years.
• You hold at least 15% of the company for at least a year, and no more than 15% of any other company.
• You make your first investment within two years of the end of the year the company was incorporated.
• The company is a new venture carrying on a qualifying trade, and meets the EU State aid conditions.

How the refund works

Part of your investment is deducted from your income: 125% for a first investment in a company not yet selling in any market, less for later or expansion investments. You can claim that deduction in the year you invest and in any of the six years before. So the tax you paid as an employee comes back. Up to €140,000 of investment can be claimed in each of those years. The four-year limit on repayment claims doesn't apply.

Someone invests €40,000 in 2026 in their new company, giving a deduction of €50,000. In 2025 they earned €75,000 as an employee:

Using only the income taxed at 40% gets the best rate. The remaining €19,000.00 of deduction can be claimed against 2020 to 2024 in the same way. Relief is from income tax only; USC and PRSI aren't refunded.

Claiming

The company gives you a Statement of Qualification once the conditions are met. You then claim on Form 11 or Form 12, for the years you choose. Relief is withdrawn if you sell the shares within four years, or the conditions stop being met.

Budget 2027

Budget 2027 said SURE, the Employment Investment Incentive and the Start-up Capital Incentive will be extended in their current form. That is subject to the new EU block exemption rules due from 1 January 2027 and to Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026. Separately, the corporation tax relief for new start-up companies under section 486C is extended to 31 December 2030.

To check what rate you paid in a year, use the PAYE calculator. For the company's own tax, see the corporation tax calculator.

Work it out

• PAYE calculator →
• Corporation tax for your company →

Sources

• Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs (checked 25/10/2026)
• Department of Finance: Budget 2027 Tax Policy Changes (section 2.2: taxation of investments; chapter 9: Investment Account) (checked 25/10/2026)
• 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.