First published on Friday, October 30, 2026
Last updated on Friday, October 30, 2026
The headlines from Budget 2027
Minimum wage rises
PRSI changes
Enhanced Reporting Requirements
Minimum wage rises
The minimum wage will rise by 79 cents to €14.94 per hour, starting 1st January 2027. The introduction of a living wage has been paused.
PRSI changes
And PRSI rose to 9.15% for employees earning up to €552 per week and 11.40% over that threshold. There are changes in January and September 2027 to ease the employer PRSI cost arising from the minimum wage increase as follows:
The rate applies to all that week's pay, so pay just over the threshold moves the whole amount to the higher rate.
Reporting tax-free payments
From 1st January 2027, you’ll have more flexibility in reporting tax-free payments and benefits like travel, subsistence and smaller benefits. You can still choose to report these payments in real-time (on or before the payment date) or by the 14th of the following month. This is expected the relieve the admin burden on businesses like yours.
Not in the Budget, but an auto-enrolment reminder
Don’t forget employer contributions to auto-enrolment are now running through payroll too. For My Future Fund, this is 1.5% of gross pay up to €80,000 until 2028. After 10 years, this will reach 6% of gross earnings up to €80,000.
Other changes for businesses
Budget 2027 has allocated €1.3bn for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. This included €3m to establish the Start Up Ireland initiative, supporting 1,000 start-up businesses and backing 10,000 entrepreneurs. €4.5m will go towards funding energy efficiency upgrades for small businesses in the form of grants up to €10,000. And start-up relief was extended by four years until 2030. This can apply for the first five years of trading and is linked to PRSI paid by the employer.
And that’s a wrap from me. Tune in next time for my take on the latest headlines and employment law stories, helping keep your business ahead!
