Core personal credits / credit

Employee (PAYE) Tax Credit: who qualifies

If you have PAYE income from employment or a pension you get the Employee Tax Credit, worth 2,000 euro for 2025 and 2026. It is applied automatically. Self-employed people get the Earned Income Tax Credit instead; if you have both types of income the combined credits cannot exceed the Employee Tax Credit amount.

Written by PAYEWise editorial team, plain-English tax writers working from Revenue sources. Tax review: pending appointment of a named tax-qualified reviewer. Reviewed 28 October 2026.

Who qualifies

You have income taxed under , including occupational pensions and most social welfare payments.

Exclusions and pitfalls

Proprietary directors and their spouses generally do not get the on their company salary.
The cannot exceed 20% of your income.

How to claim, step by step

Automatic through your Tax Credit Certificate. Check it is listed.

This checker provides guidance from your answers. Revenue decides whether a claim is accepted. You can claim directly for free using myAccount.

Documents to keep

None

Worked examples

Employee, 2026 qualifies

Full credit 2,000 euro.

Low PAYE income qualifies

PAYE income 6,000 euro: the credit is limited to 20% = 1,200 euro.

Proprietary director does not qualify

A director owning more than 15% of the company cannot claim it on that salary; the Earned Income Credit may apply.

All examples use hypothetical people and figures.

Frequently asked

Values in earlier years?

1,700 (2022), 1,775 (2023), 1,875 (2024), 2,000 (2025 and 2026).

Terms used here

Next steps

Sources and review

R22Employee Tax Creditofficialchecked 2026-10-28
R2Tax rates, bands and reliefs 2022-2026officialchecked 2026-10-28

Last reviewed 2026-10-28 (awaiting sign-off by a named tax-qualified reviewer). Every factual tax rule on this page is backed by a dated Revenue source. Spotted an error? Use the contact page.

Do it

Claim through Revenue (free)

Priority P0. Reviewed 2026-10-28.

Employee (PAYE) Tax Credit: who qualifies

Worked examples

Employee, 2026 qualifies

Full credit 2,000 euro.

Low PAYE income qualifies

PAYE income 6,000 euro: the credit is limited to 20% = 1,200 euro.

Proprietary director does not qualify

A director owning more than 15% of the company cannot claim it on that salary; the Earned Income Credit may apply.

All examples use hypothetical people and figures.