May 1, 2026

Income Tax Deadline – Pay and File Pension Contributions

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While there is still ample time to make pension contributions for the previous tax year, it’s important to be aware of the contribution limits, deadlines, and procedures involved in claiming backdated tax relief through Revenue’s “Pay and File” system – see Revenue Guide.

For Self-employed Individuals

To reduce your 2025 tax bill, you must pay your pension contribution and elect to backdate relief to 2025 by 31st October 2026.
But, if you use Revenue Online Service (ROS), you have until Wednesday, 18th November 2026, however, to avoid any backlogs or unnecessary delays, we ask all existing PRSA and PPP clients to request any return their completed pension forms for EFT transfer before the end of October 2026.

This applies to holders of:

Personal Pension Plans (known as PPPs or RACs)
PRSAs

For PAYE Employees

PAYE employees can generally claim relief for AVC and PRSA contributions through Revenue MyAccount by filing or amending their Form 12.
You must also upload a completed Payment Details Document.

We have provided a template that can be downloaded here.

Revenue has confirmed that this document can be uploaded by the customer to Revenue myAccount as part of their claim, with the following information included:

Date of pension contribution payment
Total amount paid
Type of pension contract to which the contribution was paid – AVC, PRSA AVC, PP, or PRSA
The relevant policy/scheme number (or if a new policy simply insert “new policy, will be confirmed by Life Office in due course”)
Name and address of the customer
Confirmation that tax relief was not allowed on the contribution through net pay

The above note should be prepared by you and uploaded directly.

Pension Tax Relief Limits

You can claim tax relief on contributions up to these limits:

Age	Maximum Relief
Under 30	15%
30-39	20%
40-49	25%
50-54	30%
55-59	35%
60+	40%

Earnings for relief are capped at €115,000 and must come from PAYE or self-employed income.

Rebates and Savings

PAYE workers often get a rebate when Revenue recalculates their 2025 tax after backdating a 2026 contribution.
Self-employed clients may be able to reduce their 2025 taxable income by claiming relief on qualifying pension contributions

Key Points

If your job situation has changed, check how it affects pensioning past income.
If you earn from more than one source, Revenue applies dual income rules. For example, a doctor with €100,000 GMS income (already pensioned) can only pension €15,000 of additional private income.