Tax credits
Amounts taken off your gross tax, not your income. A single PAYE worker gets €4,000 in 2026: the Single Person and Employee Tax Credits.
What it means
Tax credits reduce the tax you owe euro for euro. Revenue works out your tax at 20% and 40% first, then subtracts your credits. If your credits are bigger than your gross tax you pay no income tax, but unused credits are not paid out.
The main credits for 2026 are the Single Person Tax Credit (€2,000), the Married or Civil Partners Tax Credit (€4,000), the Employee Tax Credit (€2,000) and the Single Person Child Carer Credit (€1,900). The Employee Tax Credit is capped at 20% of your PAYE income if that income is under €10,000. Budget 2026 made no change to any of these.
You can claim other credits, such as the Rent Tax Credit or medical expenses relief, through myAccount. Your employer only applies what Revenue sends on your Revenue Payroll Notification, so check it when you start a new job.
Formula
Example
On €50,000 a single person has gross tax of €11,200. Credits of €4,000 bring it down to €7,200 for the year, or €600 a month.