Transborder Workers' Relief: living in Ireland, working across the border

Live in Ireland and commute to a job abroad where you pay tax? This relief can remove the Irish income tax on that salary. Who qualifies, and how.

As an Irish resident you are taxed here on your worldwide income, including a salary from a job in Northern Ireland, Britain or elsewhere. You would normally get a credit for the foreign tax, but pay Irish tax on any difference. Transborder Workers' Relief goes further: it effectively removes the Irish income tax on the foreign salary altogether.

Who qualifies

• you are Irish tax resident
• you work in a country Ireland has a double taxation agreement with, and pay tax there that isn't refundable
• you are in Ireland at least one day in each week you work abroad (weeks of leave don't count)
• the job lasts a continuous 13 weeks or more in the year

You can't claim it alongside Seafarers' Allowance, the Foreign Earnings Deduction or split-year treatment. You also can't claim if you or your spouse or civil partner is a proprietary director of the foreign employer.

How it works

Revenue first works out the Irish income tax on all your income, then keeps only the share that relates to your Irish income. You get no credit for the foreign tax, because the relief replaces it. For a single person in Donegal who earns €42,000 (converted from sterling) in Derry and has €6,000 of Irish rental income in 2026:

Without the Irish rental income, there would be no Irish income tax to pay.

USC and PRSI

USC doesn't apply to the foreign salary covered by the relief. Transborder workers don't usually pay Irish PRSI either: under EU social security rules, a frontier worker is generally insured in the country where they work.

Claiming

The relief isn't automatic. Your foreign salary is still income you must declare. So you file an income tax return each year and claim the relief on it. Or you write to Revenue with a final statement of tax from the other country. Because foreign employment income is taxed under self-assessment, you may need to pay preliminary tax if you also have other income. Couples where one spouse works across the border and the other in Ireland should check how credits are allocated. Putting them all against the Irish salary can leave tax to pay at the end of the year.

Work it out

• UK vs Ireland salary →
• Take-home pay →

Sources

• Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs (checked 25/10/2026)

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