By Eva Byrne, Senior Tax Manger at Contracting PLUS
January is the perfect time to check in on your tax position for the year ahead. Here are a few important reminders that self-employed individuals and contractors should be aware of early on. Some of these might impact how your tax is calculated during the year, while others relate to payments or choices that feed into your tax return. Getting them right now can save time, money, and stress later.
Ensure it shows the correct tax credits, rate bands and (for couples) the right allocation between spouses.
Make sure your 2026 TCC shows the correct tax credits, rate bands and (for couples) the right allocation between spouses. Payroll use this to calculate your tax every payday.
If it’s wrong, you could underpay or overpay tax during the year. While things are usually corrected when your tax return is filed, it’s better to avoid nasty surprises.
To update your TCC, log in to myAccount, go to ‘PAYE Services’ (or ‘Manage your tax’) and choose ‘Manage your tax 2026’.
From there you can edit your tax credits, rate bands and (if relevant) how they’re divided between jobs or spouses; Revenue will then issue an updated TCC to your My Documents and an updated Revenue payroll Notification (RPN) to your employer/payroll provider.
Revenue must be notified by 31st March 2026.
If you are married or in a civil partnership and want to change your basis of assessment (e.g. from joint to separate, or vice versa) for 2026, Revenue must be notified by 31st March 2026. Most married couples are under joint assessment because it usually provides the best overall tax outcome and is the default once revenue are notified of your married status. However, couples can decide to keep their tax affairs separate and if so, the request must be made between 1 October of the previous year and 31st March of the year in question (e.g. by 31st March 2026 for the 2026 tax year).
A change can be made by:
CGT on gains made in December 2025 is due by 31th January 2026.
If you realised capital losses between 1 January and 30 November 2025, these can generally be used to reduce the taxable gains – so it’s important to review all disposals for the year, not just December. The details will form part of your 2025 tax return but any CGT due must still be paid now.
For more information on CGT, read our blog.
New flexibility on tax relief for donations to approved sports bodies.
From 1 January 2025, there is new flexibility on tax relief for donations to approved sports bodies. Previously, PAYE donors could only let the sports body claim the tax refund, while self‑assessed donors could only claim a deduction themselves. From 2025, both PAYE and self‑assessed individuals can now choose either to (a) claim the tax relief personally (via Form 11 or Form 12) or (b) surrender the relief to the sports body, which will claim it from Revenue.
The new flexibility from 1 January 2025 should make it easier for bodies like the Olympic Federation of Ireland to raise money, because every donor (PAYE or self‑assessed) can now choose whether the tax benefit goes to them or is added on top of their donation to the sports body.
This article is for information purposes only and you should get professional tax planning specific to your circumstances and what you want to achieve.
Article written on the 15/01/2026
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