Budget 2027: what it means for your pay
Last updated: 13 October 2026
The published 2027 income tax, USC and PRSI changes, with single-person examples at €30,000, €50,000 and €80,000, pending the Finance Act.
What was published, and what is not law yet
Budget 2027 was presented to the Dáil on 6 October 2026. The Department of Finance tax policy changes, and the Minister for Finance’s statement on gov.ie, set out the personal tax package. Revenue’s budget page says the Oireachtas still has to pass a Finance Bill before the proposals become law. The 2027 option on the take-home and income-tax calculators uses the published measures and says they are pending the Finance Act.
The page opens on 2026 until 1 January 2027. After that date it opens on 2027, and you can still switch back. The figures below are for a single PAYE employee with only the personal and employee credits. They leave out the Home Carer Credit, the rent tax credit, medical-card USC and any benefit in kind.
The 2027 rates the calculators use
Section 2.1.1 of the tax policy changes raises the standard-rate cut-off by €2,500. A single person, a widowed person or a surviving civil partner goes from €44,000 to €46,500. A married couple or civil partners with one income go from €53,000 to €55,500. With two incomes the couple’s starting cut-off goes from €53,000 to €55,500, and the extra slice for the lower earner is capped at €37,500 rather than €35,000. Income tax stays 20% up to the cut-off and 40% after it.
The same section raises the personal tax credit from €2,000 to €2,125 and the employee credit from €2,000 to €2,125. The married personal credit is not printed as its own line. It is €4,250 in the calculator because that is twice €2,125, which is how the 2026 Revenue chart builds the married credit, and because Table 3 of the Budget document cuts a one-income couple’s income tax by €475 at €50,000. At that salary the band does not bind, so the €475 is €250 of personal credit, €125 of employee credit and €100 of Home Carer Credit. The Home Carer Credit itself rises from €1,950 to €2,050. This calculator does not apply it.
USC keeps an exemption at €13,000. The Budget text says incomes less than €13,000 are exempt. The calculator still treats €13,000 itself as exempt, which is the 2026 Revenue rule, because the Budget text does not say that boundary moved. From 1 January 2027 the published bands are 0.5% to €12,012, 2% from €12,013 to €30,300, then 3%, then 8%. The 2% ceiling moves from €28,700 to €30,300 so that a full-time worker on the new minimum wage of €14.94 an hour stays out of the higher USC rates. The document’s bullet list then prints 3% up to €70,444. Table 2, the Department’s own pay table, reduces USC by only €16 once pay is above €30,300. That €16 is 1% of the €1,600 ceiling move, and it appears at €50,000, €75,000 and €100,000. An extra €400 on the 3% band would have saved a further €20 above €70,444, and Table 2 does not show that. The calculator keeps the 8% threshold at the 2026 figure of €70,044 and says so on the page.
€30,000
In 2026 a single person on €30,000 pays income tax of €2,000. That is €6,000 of tax at 20%, minus the €2,000 personal credit and the €2,000 employee credit. USC is €432.82: 0.5% on the first €12,012, 2% up to €28,700, and 3% on the last €1,300. Class A employee PRSI at the 4.35% rate in force from 1 October 2026 is €1,305 if that rate is applied to the whole year. Take-home pay on that basis is €26,262.18.
In 2027 the same salary is still entirely inside the 20% band, so the gross tax is still €6,000. The credits are €2,125 each, so income tax falls to €1,750. The salary is under the new €30,300 USC ceiling, so the €1,300 that was at 3% is at 2% instead. USC is €419.82. PRSI at 4.35% is still €1,305, because that rate runs until 30 September 2027. Take-home pay is €26,525.18, which is €263 more. The €263 is €250 of extra credits and €13 of USC.
€50,000
In 2026 the same person pays €7,200 of income tax: €44,000 at 20% and €6,000 at 40%, minus €4,000 of credits. USC is €1,032.82, which is Revenue’s published result for €50,000. PRSI at 4.35% for the year is €2,175. Take-home pay is €39,592.18.
In 2027 the cut-off is €46,500, so €3,500 is taxed at 40% rather than €6,000. That is €500 less tax. The credits rise by €250, to €4,250. Income tax is €6,450, which is the figure in Table 2 of the tax policy changes. USC falls by €16, to €1,016.82, because €1,600 of income moves from 3% to 2%. PRSI at 4.35% is still €2,175. Take-home pay is €40,358.18, which is €766 more. The Minister’s statement said someone earning €50,000 would pay over €700 less in income tax and USC. The €766 is that comparison, with PRSI held at the same rate.
€80,000
€80,000 is above both the new cut-off and the new USC ceiling, and it is not a row in Table 2. In 2026, income tax is €19,200: €44,000 at 20% and €36,000 at 40%, minus €4,000 of credits. USC is €2,430.62, with the 8% rate starting after €70,044. PRSI at 4.35% is €3,480. Take-home pay is €54,889.38.
In 2027, income tax is €18,450: €46,500 at 20% and €33,500 at 40%, minus €4,250 of credits. That is €750 less, the same band-and-credit saving as at €50,000. USC is €2,414.62, which is €16 less. PRSI at 4.35% is still €3,480. Take-home pay is €55,655.38, again €766 more before any October 2027 PRSI change. Holding the 8% threshold at €70,044 is what produces that €16. If a later Finance Act printed €70,444 as the real 3% ceiling, USC on €80,000 would be lower again, and this page would change with it.
Why Table 2 is a smaller gain
Table 2’s yearly change is €218 at €30,000 and €691 at €50,000, not the €263 and €766 above. Note 2 says the table includes the agreed PRSI increases: 4.2% until 30 September 2026, 4.35% from 1 October 2026, and 4.5% from 1 October 2027. A full calendar year on that path is nine months at the earlier rate and three months at the later one. The 2026 blend is 4.2375%. The 2027 blend is 4.3875%. The gap is 0.15 points of the salary: €45 at €30,000 and €75 at €50,000. Subtract those from the tax-and-USC gains and you get the Table 2 changes of €218 and €691.
The calculator does not blend a year by itself. It asks which rate to apply to all 52 weeks. For 2027 the choices are 4.35% until 30 September 2027 and 4.5% from 1 October 2027. On €50,000 the October rate is €2,250 rather than €2,175. Chapter 2 does not announce a new employee rate. The 4.5% figure is the one the Department used in the distributional tables and described as already agreed. The weekly nil point of €352 and the tapered €12 credit were not restated, so they stay as published for 2026. Employer PRSI, including the threshold move from €552 to €600 a week, is not in this employee calculation.
€80,000 is not in Table 2. The same full-year PRSI gap of 0.15 points is €120. The tax-and-USC gain of €766 minus €120 is €646. That €646 is arithmetic on the published rates and on note 2. It is not a figure printed in the Budget tables.
Where to read the sources
The band, credit and USC wording is section 2.1 of Budget 2027: Tax Policy Changes. The “over €700” line for €50,000 is in the Minister’s Budget statement. The take-home calculator and the income tax calculator both carry the year switch. A wider list of household measures, including rent, Help to Buy and the taxes that did not move, is in the summary of Budget 2027.