Budget 2027 Ireland for Business Owners: Five Decisions That Could Change Your Plans.

What to watch if you may sell or transfer the business, grow your team, take value from the company or invest for your family, between now and Budget Day on 6 October 2026.

Budget 2027 will be announced on 6 October 2026. For business owners, some of the most important decisions may have little to do with the headline personal tax package.

Capital Gains Tax and business exit reliefs, succession and inheritance, the cost of employing people, pension funding and Ireland’s proposed new Personal Investment Account could all influence longer-term financial planning.

Some changes are already confirmed. Others remain proposals being discussed ahead of Budget Day.

That distinction matters. Business owners should plan around the rules that exist today, understand the proposals that could affect them, and avoid making irreversible financial or business decisions based on pre-Budget speculation.

What we already know about Budget 2027

Budget 2027 will be delivered on 6 October 2026. The Government’s Summer Economic Statement set out the broad parameters for the Budget, while much of the detailed discussion around taxation and business reliefs remains pre-Budget lobbying rather than confirmed policy.

For business owners, that debate includes the 33% Capital Gains Tax rate, Revised Entrepreneur Relief, inheritance and succession, employment costs and measures intended to encourage investment.

The important distinction is between what could change on Budget Day and what has already changed under existing rules.

That is particularly relevant this year because several measures affecting business owners are already in place or scheduled, including the higher €1.5 million lifetime limit for Revised Entrepreneur Relief, increases in employer PRSI, the introduction of MyFutureFund and phased increases in the Standard Fund Threshold.

1. Could the tax on a business sale change?

Ireland’s standard Capital Gains Tax rate is currently 33%.

Calls ahead of Budget 2027 have urged the Government to reduce the headline CGT rate and further expand incentives for entrepreneurs and business investment. These remain proposals, not confirmed Budget measures.

The only change so far is Revised Entrepreneur Relief.

For qualifying disposals from 1 January 2026, the relief allows qualifying gains of up to a €1.5 million lifetime limit to be taxed at 10% rather than the standard 33% CGT rate. The previous lifetime limit was €1 million.

Detailed eligibility conditions apply. For example, where the qualifying business is operated through a company, Revenue’s rules include requirements around share ownership and the individual’s role and time spent working in the business.

A worked example

Assuming all qualifying conditions for Revised Entrepreneur Relief are met, consider a business owner realising a €2 million qualifying gain.

The first €1.5 million would be taxed at 10%, producing €150,000 in CGT.

The remaining €500,000 would be taxed at the standard 33% rate, producing €165,000 in CGT.

That gives total CGT of €315,000, before considering matters such as the annual exemption, transaction costs or any previous use of the lifetime Entrepreneur Relief limit.

By comparison, applying 33% to the full €2 million gain would produce €660,000 in CGT.

The difference in this simplified example is €345,000.

It shows why eligibility for existing relief can matter far more than speculation about a future change in the headline CGT rate.

Selling the business is only part of the financial decision

For an owner considering an exit, however, the tax treatment of the sale is only one part of the planning process.

Selling a business can transform wealth accumulated inside a company into personal capital. That raises a different set of questions: how much should remain accessible in cash, how much might be invested, how existing pension assets fit into the picture, what income will be required after the sale and how wealth may eventually pass to the next generation.

For that reason, business exit planning, retirement planning, investment strategy and succession should ideally be considered together rather than as separate decisions.

2. Will succession become easier?

Passing a business to the next generation can create tax considerations for both the person transferring the business and the person receiving it.

Depending on the circumstances, Retirement Relief from CGT and Business Relief from Capital Acquisitions Tax may be relevant, but both have detailed qualifying conditions.

For gifts and inheritances, the current Group A CAT threshold is €400,000. It generally applies to benefits passing from a parent to a child. Previous taxable gifts and inheritances received within the same threshold group since 5 December 1991 are aggregated, meaning it is not a new €400,000 allowance for every transfer.

Budget 2027 may bring further discussion around inheritance thresholds and business-transfer reliefs, but business owners should not assume that those rules will change.

Succession planning is particularly difficult to leave until the final stages of an ownership transition. Existing tax reliefs can include ownership, timing, and other qualifying conditions, while the wider decision may involve family, company, and personal financial considerations.

Understanding your current position early gives you more options than trying to restructure immediately before a planned transfer.

3. What will it cost to employ people?

Two costs are already changing regardless of what happens on Budget Day: PRSI and pension auto-enrolment.

For Class A employment above the relevant earnings threshold, employer PRSI increases from 11.25% to 11.40% on 1 October 2026. Employee PRSI at the main Class A rate rises from 4.20% to 4.35% at the same time.

MyFutureFund, Ireland’s automatic-enrolment retirement savings system, began in January 2026.

During 2026–2028, participating employees contribute 1.5% of gross pay, employers contribute another 1.5%, and the State adds 0.5%. Contributions increase in stages, ultimately reaching 6% each from employees and employers, plus a 2% State contribution from 2035. Contributions are subject to the scheme’s €80,000 earnings threshold.

For illustration, if ten eligible employees each earn €45,000 and are all participating in MyFutureFund, the employer contribution at 1.5% is:

€45,000 × 10 × 1.5% = €6,750 per year.

At the eventual 6% employer rate, the same salaries would produce an employer contribution of €27,000 per year, assuming the salaries and scheme rules were otherwise unchanged.

For employers, the useful Budget question is therefore not simply whether a new business incentive appears. Any new relief or support should be considered alongside the broader movement in employment costs already underway.