Self-employed people, company directors and anyone with non-PAYE income over €5,000 file Form 11; PAYE workers file only to claim credits or declare small extra income.
Tax year and deadline
Tax year is the calendar year; Form 11 and preliminary tax are due 31 October, extended to 18 November for ROS filers.
Penalties for filing or paying late
A Form 11 or other self-assessment return filed late carries a surcharge: 5% of the tax due, up to 12,695 euro, if it is less than two months late, and 10% of the tax due, up to 63,485 euro, if it is later than that. Interest on unpaid income tax runs at 0.0219% a day. Employers' PAYE, PRSI and USC and VAT carry 0.0274% a day. These daily rates have applied since 1 July 2009. Filing through ROS gives until 18 November, but the payment date is unchanged.
Written from published tax-authority guidance and reviewed on 2026-10-11. Everything here is indicative rather than a ruling on your circumstances, and rules change. Confirm anything you rely on with Revenue Commissioners before acting on it, and tell us if you find something out of date so we can correct it.
This guide explains the rules in general terms and is not tax advice for your circumstances. Confirm your position with a qualified adviser or with Revenue Commissioners.