We’ll look at last minute tax saving tips and some general advice to keep those tax bills as low as possible. These tax saving tips are common ones that our clients benefit from, and we see on a regular basis. Self-assessed taxpayers, like company director’s and those with investment income must file a tax return every year. The tax return is a Form 11 and the return for 2025 is due at the end of October 2026. The main tips we’ll look at are
- Joint assessment
- Backdate a pension payment
- Rent credit
- Mortgage Interest credit
- Home carer credit
- Key Tips
Joint Assessment
Fred and Wilma married in 2024 so are entitled to joint assessment in 2025. They never told the tax office, so are assessed as two single people in 2025. Fred’s income is €80,000 and Wilma works part-time and earned €30,000 last year. Fred’s tax on his salary is
| First €44,000 x 20% | €8,800 |
| Balance €36,000 x 40% | €14,400 |
| Total | €23,200 |
| Less Tax credits [Single & PAYE] | (€4,000) |
| Tax liability | €19,200 |
Wilma’s tax liability is
| €30,000 x 20% | €6,000 |
| Less Tax Credits [Single & PAYE] | (€4,000) |
| Tax liability | €2,000 |
| Combined tax Fred & Wilma | €21,200 |
It’s September 2026 and we complete an assessable spouse election form to nominate Fred as the assessable spouse for 2025. After a few weeks Revenue confirms joint assessment status. We check the prepopulated Form 11 to see if Wilma’s details are on it, which they are. Under joint assessment their tax liability will be
| First €83,000 x 20% | €16,600 |
| Balance €27,000 x 40% | €10,800 |
| Total | €27,400 |
| Less Tax Credits [Married & PAYE] | (€8,000) |
| Tax Liability | €19,400 |
| Tax liability under single assessment | €21,200 |
| Tax saving joint assessment | €1,800 |
The reason for the tax saving is that the married higher income earning spouse can earn up to €53,000 at the lower rate. The maximum a married couple can earn at the lower rate in 2025 and 2026 is €88,000. This is €44,000 each. As Wilma didn’t earn €44,000, it meant that Fred benefits from the extra €9,000 at the lower 20% rate. That’s the saving in this case. €9,000 x 20% which is €1,800. If both are earning over €44,000 there’s no tax saving.
Backdate a pension payment
When you backdate a pension payment made in 2026 to 2025, there are two things to do. First, you include the details of the top-up payment in your 2025 tax return. The second one is that you file the return on time. There are two key dates to file your 2025 tax return on time
- 31st of October 2026 and
- 18th of November 2026, provided you both pay and file through ROS
If you’re not in funds to pay some or all your 2025 tax liability, your date is the 31st of October. If you don’t file your return on time, you won’t get the tax relief on the top-up pension payment in 2025.
Pension advisors and providers are busy this time of year. Once you know what top-up pension payment you can make, be sure to get it paid on time. And request the pension certificate with a date before your deadline. Revenue may look for this before paying any refund to you.
Bob has a rental profit of €8,000 in 2025 which results in a tax liability of €4,000. Bob’s salary for 2025 is €90,000 and he’s 38 years old. He paid €600 a month or €7,200 into his work pension in 2025.
| Pensionable salary | €90,000 |
| Bob can pay 20% because of his age | €18,000 |
| Amount already paid | (€7,200) |
| Balance that he can claim in 2025 | €10,800 |
| He pays | €10,000 |
| Tax saving @ 40% | €4,000 |
Bob eliminates his tax liability for 2025 by backdating a pension payment of €10,000. His final tax liability for 2025 is nil. Given that he has no tax liability for 2025, he doesn’t need to make a preliminary tax payment for 2026. And he has an extra €10,000 in his pension pot.
Rent Credit
The rent tax credit is a common tax saving credit we see. We mainly see it with clients who have children in 3rd level college. It also applies if you are renting your home. The value of it is up to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a married couple. The credit is the lower of
- The rent paid x 20% for the calendar year or
- The actual credit of €1,000 for an individual or €2,000 for a couple
The credit is for rent paid only. Other services or expenses like food and electricity don’t qualify. Fred and Wilma’s daughter Pebbles started in UL in September 2025 for the Academic year 2025/26. They paid €10,000 to UL student accommodation for the academic year. €9,000 was for rent and €1,000 was for electricity and a deposit. The tax credit for 2025 is
| Total paid to UL | €10,000 |
| Deduct electricity and deposit | (€1,000) |
| Rental element | €9,000 |
| Deduct 2026 amount [5 months] | (€5,000) |
| Amount to claim for 2025 [4 months] | €4,000 |
| Tax credit x 20% | €800 |
There are certain rules about the age of the student, and you’ll need the landlord’s name and address and child’s PPS number among other things. They can claim the €5,000 paid for 2026 in their 2026 tax return and there could be more rents paid for September to December 2026 to increase the 2026 claim.
Rent your home
As mentioned, if you rent your home, you can also claim the credit. Barney and Betty are renting their home in Castlewoods in 2025 while building a mansion out the country. They pay €2,000 a month and moved in in February 2025 and are still there. Their credit is
| Rent paid for 2025 11 months x €2,000 | €22,000 |
| Tax credit is the lower of €22,000 x 20% | €4,400 |
| Or | €2,000 |
Mortgage Interest Credit
The mortgage interest credit benefits you if the interest you paid on your home mortgage is higher in 2025 compared to 2022. There are a couple of hurdles to get this credit.
- The balance owed on your mortgage at the end of 2022 had to between €80,000 and €500,000
- The interest you paid in 2025 is higher than the interest paid in 2022
This credit will typically benefit those on variable rate or tracker mortgages in 2022 when interest rates were low. Those rates increased several times in 2023 and 2024. As a result, there was a spike in the interest paid in later years compared to 2022. There is a cap on the maximum interest credit you can get of €1,250. This equated to an interest increase of €6,250.
The balance on Fred and Wilma home mortgage was €350,000 at the end of 2022. Interest paid that year was €5,000. In 2025, the mortgage interest charge was €8,500. The mortgage interest credit for 2025 is
| Interest Paid in 2025 | €8,500 |
| Interest Paid in 2022 | €5,000 |
| Increase in interest in 2025 over 2022 | €3,500 |
| Mortgage interest credit x 20% | €700 |
This credit is also available for 2023 and 2024. Again 2022 is the base year and if the interest was higher in 2023 and 2024 compared to 2022, you can claim 20% of the increase subject to the cap. Your local property tax must be up to date when claiming and you’ll include your LPT number on the return.
Home Carer Credit
The home carer credit is one we see now and again. It’s a credit that people can miss out on by lack of awareness or a change in personal circumstances. An example would be both spouses are working and one spouse stays at home to look after kids. It’s worth €1,950 in 2025 and in 2026 and has increased in the budget for 2027.
To claim it you must be married or in a civil partnership and jointly assessed and care for a dependent person. That person can either be a
- Child for whom you get child benefit for or
- A person aged 65 or over or
- A person who is permanently incapacitated due to a mental or physical disability
To qualify the dependent person must live
- Next door in a neighbouring home
- On the same property or
- Within 2 kilometres of your home
Your spouse or civil partner
If your spouse or civil partner has some income, you can’t claim the home carer credit and the increased standard rate band for dual income couples in the same year. You can claim what is the most beneficial to your circumstances.
Let’s take the example of Fred and Wilma from the joint assessment paragraph above. Rather than Wilma having an income of €30,000 in 2025, we’ll assume her income is €5,000. Their tax liability using the increased standard rate band is
| First €58,000 [€53,000 Fred and €5,000 Wilma] x 20% | €11,600 |
| Balance €27,000 x 40% | €10,800 |
| Total Tax | €22,400 |
| Less Tax Credits | |
| Married €4,000 and PAYE €3,000 | (€7,000) |
| Net Tax liability | €15,400 |
Pebbles wouldn’t qualify as a dependent person, and they no longer get child benefit for her. Fred’s dad, who is 75, lives in the same estate and is within the 2-kilometre radius. Their tax liability, if they claim the home carer credit is
| First €53,000 x 20% | €10,600 |
| Balance of €32,000 x 40% | €12,800 |
| Total Tax | €23,400 |
| Less Married and PAYE credits | (€7,000) |
| Less Home carer credit | (€1,950) |
| Net Tax liability | €14,450 |
As you’ll see claiming the home carer credit leaves them with a lower tax liability.
Key Tips
Some key tips for the tax return filing season are
- File your return on time. This will save on an initial surcharge of 5%, which rises to 10% if more than two months late. That two months start from the 31st of October and not the 18th of November.
- Company directors who own 15% or more of a company must file on time. The surcharges are more penal and apply before PAYE is deducted. The higher the salary the higher the surcharge
- File by the 31st of October if you are not in funds to pay the liability in full. The extended deadline is for those paying and filing on time.
- Ensure your LPT is up to date. That includes the payment of the tax and the filing of your LPT return. This can lead to surcharges and the loss of tax credits like the landlord’s tax credit and the mortgage interest credit.
- If you sold assets in 2025, like property and shares, don’t forget to file your Capital Gains Tax return. Not filing on time can lead to the same 5% and 10% surcharges that apply to Income Tax
Self-Assessment
Some key considerations for being part of the self-assessment system are
- Remember, you must declare all your income. It is self-assessment, so it’s up to you to ensure your return is right. Common income missed would include dividends from shares you own and deposit interest from Irish and overseas savings.
- If you are in funds pay enough preliminary tax for 2026. This would usually be 100% of your final 2025 liability. By paying enough prelim, you won’t get caught for interest and any balance of tax owed for 2026 wouldn’t be due until 31 October 2027.
- Keep backup for everything you claim. Things like mortgage interest receipts, medical expenses receipts, invoices for repairs and proof of top up pension payments will be important if Revenue look for them.
- If you have untaxed income like rent, dividends, deposit interest or other investment income over €5,000 you are a chargeable person. You should register for tax if you haven’t already done so and get your return sorted. There’s still time to get it all done by the extended deadline of the 18th of November.
- If you received a gift or inheritance in the year from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 and you have a tax liability, the same deadline dates apply as for Income Tax. The 31st of October and extended date of the 18th of November when both paying and filing on ROS.
I know that’s a lot of information to take in. The above are a sample of some last minute tax saving tips but there are lots more. If you’ve got this far you are resilient or else have a lot of time on your hands! While it’s late in the day, we are here to help, and we will if we can.
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