I will look at key dates for tax returns from now until the end of the year. So, you have a hot date with Revenue! Well, not quite. Let’s be honest: These are the dates that most of us dread, and because of that, put them on the long finger. It’s a bit like going to the dentist. You know you have to go, but don’t want to. But once you do and all the pain is out of the way, there’s a sense of relief. It wasn’t that bad after all.
The dates that I will talk about are for
- Income Tax
- Capital Gains Tax
- Corporation Tax and
- Gift/Inheritance Tax
Income Tax
The key date to prepare and file your 2024 Income Tax return is the 31st of October 2025. That date is especially important for those filing a paper return. And for those who are not in a position to pay their 2024 liability. The deadline date is extended to Wednesday, the 19th of November 2025, for those paying and filing on ROS.
Remember, to get the extended deadline, you must both pay and file electronically on ROS. If you miss the deadline, there is a 5% surcharge on your tax liability within the first two months of being late. The two months start from the 31st of October 2025 and not the 19th of November. If you haven’t filed your return before the 1st of January 2026, the surcharge increases to 10%.
For those of you looking to reduce your 2024 liability by topping up your pension, two things are vital
- You must pay the top-up pension contribution by the 31st of October or by the 19th of November, and
- You must claim the top-up contribution in your tax return and file that on time.
If you don’t, you won’t get the tax relief in 2024, but all is not lost. You’ll get the tax relief in 2025, but the relief will depend on your 2025 earnings.
Company directors who own more than 15% of a company cannot miss the deadline. The surcharge for them is more penal. It is on their tax liability before deducting PAYE. As a result, the surcharge will be a lot higher in most cases. The higher the salary, the higher the surcharge.
The 31st of October or the 19th of November is also the date you pay your preliminary tax for 2025. The amount you pay is either
- 100% of your 2024 liability or
- 90% of your 2025 liability
As you will know what your 2024 liability is, following the 100% rule is always a safe bet. If you don’t pay enough preliminary tax, Revenue can charge you interest.
Tax return tips
Get all the documents to your tax advisor asap. This includes all the things you can claim, like
- medical expenses
- rent for your home or for a child in college
- mortgage interest certs for your home, if you paid more interest in 2024 compared to 2022
- mortgage interest cert for interest on a rental property
- Third-level college fees where the cost was greater than €3,000
- Medical insurance certs where your employer pays this
Make sure your local property tax is up to date. If it’s not, there will be a surcharge on your tax return. Plus, you could lose out on other credits. If you are a landlord, get tax clearance before filing your return. You’ll need that to claim the landlord tax credit.
Once you know what your liability is, a top-up pension contribution can save you money. It’s valuable when you save tax at 40%. For example, a €10,000 pension contribution backdated to 2024 could save you €4,000 in tax. Plus, it can reduce your preliminary tax payment for 2025 by €4,000. So, it has an immediate €8,000 cash flow saving, and you have put a chunk into your pension.
Capital Gains Tax
The key dates for Capital Gains Tax match the Income Tax dates. You must file your 2024 CGT return by the 31st of October 2025 or by the 19th of November if paying and filing on ROS. For those in the self-assessment system who file a Form 11 every year, your CGT return is part of your Form 11. Those of you who don’t file a Form 11 must file a Form CG1 by the due date. As that is a paper form, the date for you is the 31st of October.
If you made a disposal in 2024 that was liable to CGT, then you will already have paid the tax. For a disposal in the first 11 months of 2024, the payment date was the 15th of December 2024. For an asset sale in December 2024, the payment date was the 31st of January 2025. If you haven’t paid the liability yet, then Revenue can charge you interest. That runs at about 8% per annum and applies from the due date, which will be the 15th of December 2024 in most cases.
There’s a misconception that if you’ve already paid the tax, then you don’t need to do anything further. When you don’t file a return on time you are caught for the same 5% and 10% surcharges that apply for Income tax. Again, the date runs from the 31st of October, so the 10% surcharge kicks in after you sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve. CGT liabilities can be high, given the rate is 33% and there has been a large increase in asset values. You’ll be crying into your tea if you end up paying an extra 5% or 10%.
Don’t forget about asset disposals in 2025. If you sell an asset in the first 11 months of 2025 and you have a CGT liability, the key date is the 15th of December 2025. You must make the payment on or before that date.
CGT return tips
The main tip is to have all your backup paperwork to support the numbers in your CGT calculation. That includes
- Purchase and sales contracts
- Incidental costs of purchase and sale, like legal and tax advisor fees and stamp duty
- Backup for enhancement works like a new extension, new windows and doors, a new kitchen, etc
- Don’t claim an expense for your own labour
- Check if you had any prior year losses or if your spouse or civil partner has losses and you’re jointly assessed
- If you sell an asset at a loss, you still need to do a return and calculation. That loss could be useful to you in the future against future gains.
- If you gift an asset to a child or other person that is a disposal between connected persons. In that case, the sales proceeds is the market value of the asset.
Those of you who bought the asset you sold before 1 January 2003 could get indexation relief. Other common CGT reliefs that can reduce your liability on a property sale would be
- Principal Private Residence Relief and
- Relief for property purchased between the 7th of December 2011 and 31st of December 2024.
Non-resident clients who sell property here need Revenue clearance. Their solicitor will hold funds until this clearance comes through. I find the best way to get this clearance is to pay the CGT owing and file the CGT return at the same time. Get everything out of the way in one go. A bugbear of mine is that there’s no CG1 form available for 2025. And the forms aren’t editable!
Corporation Tax
The corporation tax return filing deadline for companies with a 31 December year-end is the 21st of September. This goes to the 23rd of September if paying and filing through ROS. So, we have just finished with the main CT deadline. Like Income Tax and CGT, there is a 5% surcharge if you file your return late but within 2 months of the due date. That 2-month period ends on the 21st of November 2025. After that date, the surcharge increases to 10%.
The rule is you must file your CT1 within 9 months of the end of your accounting year end. If your accounting year end is the 31st of March 2025, then you have until the 21st of December or the 23rd of December, if paying and filing through ROS.
The main deadline coming up for companies with 31 December year ends is the 23rd of November 2025. That’s their preliminary tax payment date for 2025. Small companies are those with a CT liability of €200k or less in the previous accounting period. That’s a company with a taxable profit of €1.6 million or less. The amount of preliminary tax to pay is either
- 100% of their 2024 CT liability or
- 90% of their 2025 CT liability
As we will know their 2024 CT liability, we will recommend paying based on the 100% rule. But if profits are a lot lower in 2025 compared to 2024, then you can look at the 90% rule. If you don’t pay any preliminary CT, Revenue can charge you interest. The interest rate is about 8% per annum. If Revenue charge you interest, it’s hard to reduce the amount. The interest rates and rules are in the tax legislation, so they don’t have to reduce them. Tears and pleading can work. Depends on who you get!
CT Return tips
Companies with January, February, and March 2025 year ends will file their CT returns in the next few months. Things to look out for include
- Claim 100% wear & tear on certain assets
- Pay any professional services or other surcharges on rental & investment income
- Pay Income Tax on director’s loans or TRS on medical insurance premiums paid for staff
- Claim reliefs like S434 (3) when voting a dividend to a holding company
- Claim withholding taxes deducted on rental income or services provided
- Claim a refund of Income Tax when director’s loans are paid down
- Claim R&D credits on time
- Claim any losses forward or losses from group companies.
Gift/Inheritance Tax
Gift or inheritance tax is the same tax and is called Capital Acquisitions Tax or CAT. The CAT liability falls on the person who acquires or receives the gift or inheritance. Like CGT, the CAT rate is 33%. The amount you pay depends on the relationship between you and the donor or giver of the gift or inheritance.
The CAT year isn’t a calendar year but runs from the 1st of September to the following 31st of August. So, for the year ended the 31st of August 2025, the CAT return filing deadline is
- 31st of October 2025 or
- 19th of November 2025, if paying and filing on ROS.
If you’re not in a position to pay the liability in full, you’ll want to file your return by the 31st of October. The amount you’ll pay depends on a few things, like
- The value of the gift or inheritance received
- The relationship between you and the person you got the gift or inheritance from, and
- If you received a previous gift or inheritance from persons in the same group from the 5th of December 1991.
For example, the current Group A threshold between a parent and child is €400,000. If you got €200,000 from a parent in 2020 and you get €300,000 from a parent in 2025, you’ll exceed the €400,000 threshold. The current Group B threshold is €40,000, and that applies to grandchildren, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Anyone who doesn’t fall into Group A or B is in Group C for strangers, and that threshold is €20,000.
CAT Return Tips
The main CAT return tip is to pay and file on time. The same surcharges apply, of 5% and 10% for filing late, starting from the 31st of October. To reduce your liability, don’t forget to
- Deduct the small gift exemption of €3,000 if receiving a gift
- Deduct any allowable costs that you had to pay, like funeral expenses or other costs to get the asset
- See if any CAT reliefs apply, like the Dwelling house exemption, business property relief or agricultural relief
- Check if there is a clawback period if you sell the asset within a certain timeline
- Use allowable thresholds for spouse and children
- File a return if you exceed 80% of the threshold amount
So, you have lots of key dates for tax returns and a few tips to save you a few bob. Getting your returns right and on time will save you money. Plus, it gives you time to get the funds together to pay Paschal. If you’re LPT isn’t up to date, that will hit you hard. You’ll have to pay and file your LPT return anyway. But it causes a whole heap of pain with surcharges and missing out on tax reliefs if you don’t.
If you are using a tax advisor for the first time or changing advisors, it will take a few days for a new advisor to set you up. There is a new agent link acceptance message that comes through to your MyAccount. Make sure you can access that to accept the request. Tax advisors get a bit frazzled in the first few weeks of November. I can only imagine the reception you’ll get if you come along with a tin of Roses full of receipts on the 18th of November!
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