Last updated: July 2026
When you work for yourself, no employer takes tax off you before you're paid. You keep the full amount your clients pay, set your own business expenses against it, and settle the tax yourself once a year. This page shows how we turn all of that into one clear number — "set aside €X" — so the October deadline is never a shock.
It's an estimate, built on the same Revenue rules a sole trader is taxed under — your accountant and your Form 11 are still the final word. Tap any section below to open it.
Everything starts from your net profit — the money you invoiced over the year (your turnover) minus your allowable business expenses. You're taxed on the profit, not on the full turnover. An expense only counts if it was spent "wholly and exclusively" for the business — software, materials, professional insurance, your accountant's fee, a fair share of a home office, and so on. The better you capture those, the lower your profit — and the lower your tax.
Robson invoiced €50,000 across the year and had €15,000 of allowable expenses — software, transport, a share of his home office. His net profit, the figure everything below is worked out on, is €50,000 − €15,000 = €35,000.
Income Tax is charged on your net profit in two bands. The first €44,000 is taxed at the standard rate of 20%; anything above that is taxed at 40%. (The €44,000 cut-off is for a single person — it's €53,000 if you're married on one income.) Then your tax credits come off the tax itself: as a single self-employed person you get the Personal Credit plus the Earned Income Credit, €4,000 in total. We keep the exact bands and credits current inside the app. Verify at Revenue.ie
Robson's €35,000 profit is all under the €44,000 cut-off, so it's taxed at 20%: €35,000 × 20% = €7,000. Take off his €4,000 of credits → €3,000 of income tax for the year.
USC (Universal Social Charge) is charged in rising bands across your whole income — each slice is charged at the rate for its band, and the slices are added together:
There's one trap worth knowing: if your total income for the year is €13,000 or under, you pay no USC at all — but a single euro over and USC applies to the whole amount from the first euro, not just the part above. There's also a 3% surcharge on any self-employed income over €100,000 (an effective top rate of 11%). Verify at Revenue.ie
Robson's €35,000, band by band: €12,012 × 0.5% = €60.06, plus €16,688 × 2% = €333.76, plus the remaining €6,300 × 3% = €189.00. Added up → €582.82 of USC for the year.
As a self-employed person you pay PRSI at Class S. For 2026 the rate is 4.2375% of your profit — a blended rate, because it's 4.2% up to 30 September and 4.35% from 1 October, which Revenue averages across the year. It only kicks in once your profit is over €5,000, and there's an annual minimum of €650: even if the percentage works out lower, you pay at least €650. The upside — Class S counts towards your State Pension. Verify at Gov.ie
Robson's profit is €35,000, well over the €5,000 floor: €35,000 × 4.2375% = €1,483.13. That's comfortably above the €650 minimum, so €1,483.13 is what he pays.
This is the part that matters day to day. We add your three taxes together — Income Tax + USC + PRSI — and turn the total into a simple percentage of your profit, so you can see "set aside €X" as the money comes in. Tuck that away as you go and it's already there when the bill lands in October. We round to the safe side — better to have a little spare than to come up short.
Robson's three taxes: €3,000 + €582.82 + €1,483.13 = €5,065.95 for the year. Against his €35,000 profit that's about 14.5% — so for every €1,000 of profit he keeps, he sets roughly €145 aside. Come October, it's already waiting.
The app keeps a running balance for each tax year, right at the top of your dashboard: what you brought forward from last year, plus what you earned this year, minus what you set aside for tax — leaving your balance now. When a year is filed and done, you close it in one tap: it locks as a clean record you can't change by accident, and its closing balance carries straight into the next year as your opening balance — nothing to retype. Every year stays with you, too: we keep your records for the six years Revenue expects you to hold on to them.
Robson's year: €35,000 profit, €5,066 set aside for tax → a balance of about €29,934 in the business. When he closes the year, that €29,934 becomes his opening balance for the next year automatically — he never retypes a figure, and the closed year stays locked as a clean record.
Sole traders file once a year through self-assessment (Form 11). The deadline is 31 October. (If you both file and pay through Revenue's online service, ROS, there's usually a short extension into mid-November — but it only applies when you do both online, and the exact date changes every year, so we always count down to 31 October to keep you safe.)
On that date you pay two things at once: the balance owed for the year just gone, plus preliminary tax — an advance payment for the year you're currently in. That's why your very first October can feel like roughly a double payment. Preliminary tax has to be at least the lowest safe option of: 90% of this year's bill, 100% of last year's, or 105% of the year before (the 105% route is by direct debit only). We start nudging you about three months ahead so none of it is a surprise. Verify at Revenue.ie
In Robson's first October he pays the balance for the year that just ended plus preliminary tax for the year he's now in — close to two years' tax in one go. Because he set aside ~14.5% all along, the money is already sitting there instead of landing as a shock.
This section only matters if you're registered for VAT — many freelancers aren't. You must register once your turnover passes €42,500 a year for services (or €85,000 for goods), and you can choose to register earlier.
If you are registered, VAT is money that flows through you — it's never your income and never your expense. You charge output VAT on your invoices (23% is the standard rate) and reclaim input VAT on your business purchases; your position for the period is simply output − input (if input is bigger, Revenue refunds the difference). We work that out and report it for you — we do not file the VAT3 return itself; that stays with you and your accountant through ROS. Verify at Revenue.ie
On a €1,000 design job Robson adds 23% VAT = €230, so the client pays €1,230 — but the €230 isn't his, it's Revenue's. Say he also paid €92 of VAT on business purchases that period. His VAT position is €230 charged − €92 reclaimed = €138 to pass on to Revenue.
A laptop, camera or other piece of equipment isn't treated as a one-year expense. Instead it's a capital allowance — the cost is spread evenly at 12.5% a year over 8 years. So a big purchase doesn't wipe out a single year's profit; you claim it in slices. (If you're VAT-registered, the VAT on it is still reclaimed in full in the period you bought it — it's only the income-tax side that spreads out.) Verify at Revenue.ie
Robson buys a €4,000 camera. Rather than deducting the whole €4,000 this year, he claims €500 a year for 8 years (€4,000 × 12.5%). His books — and his tax — reflect that the camera lasts well beyond a single year.
MyIrishWages is an independent income, expense and tax-estimation tool for the self-employed. It is NOT a Form 11, an official tax filing, or tax/accounting advice. Figures are estimates — your accountant and your Revenue return are always the source of truth. We are not affiliated with the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue.ie). For your final return, consult your accountant or Revenue (ROS).
If anything here is unclear, or you spot something that doesn't match your records, reach out at support@myirishwages.com or tap the Feedback button inside the app.