The income tax return deadline is just around the corner.
If you need to complete a self-assessed tax return, then 31 October is one of the most important dates in the year.
It’s the standard annual Pay and File deadline managed by the Revenue Commissioners.
The document to file an income tax return in Ireland is a Form 11.
It’s used by non-PAYE workers and PAYE workers with additional income who are responsible for evaluating how much tax they owe.
The tax is calculated on earnings for the previous year, so filing on 31 October will be for earnings in 2025.
“Check and make sure you’re claiming all that you’re entitled to,” advised Cróna Clohisey, Director of Members and Advocacy in Chartered Accountants Ireland.
“We know that things like medical expenses and tuition fees go unclaimed as people don’t realise that they’re entitled to it.
“Remote working relief and pension contributions are other things people are unaware they can get tax deductions for.”
If you have income outside of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, there are just weeks to go to file your return to avoid interest and penalties.
Who needs to file a Form 11?
Sole traders or freelancers, limited company directors, landlords, or anyone with significant non-employment income need to file a Form 11.
It’s generally anyone who has some form of income apart from their salary.
The most typical people that this applies to would be anyone who owns their own business that isn’t incorporated and they’re operating as a sole trader.
They are probably the largest category, and then landlords who are earning rental income also have to file a tax return to show that income.
But anyone who might have a PAYE salaried job and does extra work outside of it like a ‘side hustle’, or ‘nixer’, basically any other work that receives payment, could also be liable for self-assessment.
If you earn more than €5,000 doing spare time work outside your regular employment, then you need to file a Form 11.
How do you file a Form 11?
The first step in filing a Form 11 is registering as a self-assessed taxpayer on the Revenue Online Service (ros.ie) using your PPS number and getting a digital certificate.
With just two weeks to go to the official Tax Return deadline, Ms Clohisey is advising people to do it now.
“It can take a little bit of time. It’s much quicker than it used to be but I think if you haven’t registered and you earned income during 2025, go on to revenue and register not just for income tax, but also for ROS so that you’re able to file the return,” she said.
Once you register you will receive a log in which will take you through several screens.
You’ll be asked to fill in your income, expenses, claims for whatever it is, medical expenses, tuition fees, anything that is tax deductible, all in the one system.
Revenue pre-populates the information it already has on you, so when you log in you need to check the details on what tax you are already registered for.
For Example, if you are a landlord and also work in a PAYE job, Revenue should already have populated your tax return with your gross income, tax, PRSI and USC for your regular job.
It is up to each individual to check that that layer is correct.
You can check this by going into the Revenue ‘My Account’ section and examining your employment record.
Here you can cross check to make sure Revenue has populated your information correctly.
Then you need to declare your whatever income you’re declaring to revenue, be it rental income, dividend income or any extra payments that are taxable.
As it is self-assessed, it’s your responsibility to input that information correctly.
At the end of the return, the system calculates the tax due for you, and you must decide if you agree with the calculation.
At this point if there’s any liability due, you also make the payment.
All of this has to be completed and paid online by 18 November.
The official deadline for Pay and File Income Tax Returns (Form 11) is 31 October every year, that is the deadline that is in the tax legislation.
However, Revenue gives people who are filing online through ROS a little extra time, and that date changes each year, this year it is 18 November.
Is it easy to file by yourself?
That depends.
If you are savvy and if your return is not that complex, you may find it easy and straightforward.
However, there are a lot of questions to answer and pages to go through.
At the end you must decide if you’re happy everything is correct and declare that amount.
If you are wrong, then the penalties are on you.
“I think it’s becoming more complex,” said Ms Clohisey. “If you have any doubt, ask an expert because the worst thing you can do is get it wrong because it’s all automated.”
“If you do something incorrect or you don’t pay enough, and then revenue assessors raise a notice of assessment, which is their calculation, they might find that you’ve actually underpaid and then interest has started to apply because you haven’t paid the right amount.”
The interest is charged at a daily rate of 0.0219%, which is around 8% a year.
Is it expensive to hire an accountant?
This also depends on the complexity of your return.
Generally speaking, it could cost a few hundred euro, this could run higher if you have a more complicated return, but it might be worth the investment rather than risk underpaying your taxes.
If you’re unsure when it comes to the final stage of declaring your net tax liability, that’s where a tax advisor or accountant might come in.
Hiring a professional could also ensure you meet the deadline to file.
The cost of paying an accountant is tax deductible against your income because their service is necessary for you do to your trade.
The legislation says any expense that you need to incur to run your business can be deducted.
What type of expenses are tax deductible?
Some are more obvious than others and some apply to the Form 11, while others apply to capital expenditure which can be written off over 8 years.
Its predominantly day to day expenses.
Anything that you use that is necessary for your business and that you wholly use it for your business can be deducted.
If you’re working from home, you can take a reasonable percentage of your phone, Wi-Fi and electricity usage, only if wholly used for the purpose of your business.
And if you’re travelling for work you can claim for things like fuel, motor tax, insurance, services, NCT and repairs.
You will need to keep all your receipts and all your bills on record.
When filing your return you don’t need to submit them to revenue, but if they raise a query or audit against you, then you must be able to show how you did your calculations.
For landlords the biggest deduction in rental expenses they can take is for interest on their mortgage.
Other common expenses include advertising rates, estate agent fees, management fees, local service charges, legal, accounting and cleaning fees.
They can also get a deduction on replacing things like carpets or appliances such as fridges and minor repairs.
Bigger jobs such as replacing windows or building extensions are considered capital expenditure which can be deducted over eight years against a tax return.
Medical expenses and tuition fees can also be deducted while another category for tax relief is pension contributions.
If you’re a 40% taxpayer you can get 40% relief, so if you contribute €100 to your pension you get €40 tax relief and it only costs you €60.
“If you’re coming to the end of the year, and you haven’t made a pension contribution, you might consider doing it and getting that tax relief,” said Ms Clohisey.
What happens if you miss the deadline ?
If you miss the deadline there is also an automatic penalty for filing a late return.
The initial surcharge, even if it’s one day late is 5%, while if you file more than two months late this rises to 10%.
Do I need to keep my documents even after my return is paid?
It is really important to keep your receipts and records for at least six years.
Revenue will assess you straight away because it is all automated, so once the return is filed you should get a notice of assessment within a few days.
However Revenue can open a case again over the next four years, so its crucial you retain your records and can stand over your numbers.
If Revenue decide to audit you, they need to physically see the files again.
This could include your business, rental or medical receipts, anything you made a claim for.
Sometimes Revenue send out letters, not necessarily audits, but they might send a letter querying a claim in 2024 for medical expenses and requesting the receipts, so it’s really important that you keep them, or if you used an accountant they will have them.
