From FMB Advisory limited

A new way to invest, with the first €50,000 free of tax.

The Personal Investment Account opens on 1 July 2027. Here is what Budget 2027 set out, what is still to be decided, and when the next announcement is due.

260 days

until accounts open on 1 July 2027

Announced in Budget 2027, not yet law. The Finance Bill comes first, and is expected within weeks.

Are You Ready to Invest? ↓
€12,000 the most you can put in a year.
Unused allowance is lost.
€50,000 of account value
with no tax at all.
1% a year, charged only on the
part above €50,000.
1 July 2027 when accounts
are due to open.
At a glance

What €1,000 a month could grow to.

The full €12,000 allowance every year, at three growth rates, after the 1% tax.

YearsAt 4%At 6%At 8%
5 years€60,000 paid in €66,200+€6,200 growth €69,600+€9,600 growth €73,300+€13,300 growth
10 years€120,000 paid in €144,200+€24,200 growth €160,200+€40,200 growth €178,500+€58,500 growth
15 years€180,000 paid in €234,900+€54,900 growth €276,500+€96,500 growth €327,900+€147,900 growth
20 years€240,000 paid in €340,200+€100,200 growth €426,000+€186,000 growth €539,900+€299,900 growth
25 years€300,000 paid in €462,700+€162,700 growth €617,900+€317,900 growth €840,700+€540,700 growth

Compounding does most of the work later on: at 6%, the account grows more in the last five years shown than in the first fifteen. The 1% tax grows with the account, but even at 25 years it takes far less than exit tax and deemed disposal take from a fund held outside.

Over 20 or 25 years, the €12,000 limit, the €50,000 threshold and the 1% rate are likely to change in future Budgets, so treat the longer figures as illustrations. Charges matter more the longer you invest: each extra 0.5% a year would take tens of thousands of euro off the 25-year figures.

Same rules as the calculator below: €1,000 paid in each month, growth after charges, and 1% a year on the average value above €50,000. The fund held outside is taxed at 35% exit tax, with deemed disposal every eight years, and shown as if sold. Before inflation and provider fees, rounded to the nearest €100.

Free tool · Budget 2027 rules

What could your money grow to in the new account?

Move the sliders or type a figure. Everything updates as you go, after tax, beside a fund held outside the account and a deposit account.

€1,000 a month uses the full €12,000 yearly limit.
In the account after 20 years
€425,952
At 6% a year after charges, after €26,769 of 1% tax.
Fund held outside €374,339 after exit tax
Deposit at 2.75% €290,155 after DIRT
€51,612 more than the fund outside
Before inflation and provider fees.

Based on €1,000 a month · 20 years · 6% growth after charges · a 2.75% deposit rate

The Same Money, Three Ways

After 20 years, this is what you would keep from the same money in three places. The first two hold the same fund, one inside the new account and one bought the usual way without it, so the gap between them is what the account saves in tax. The third leaves the money on deposit.

Using a Personal Investment Account
Personal Investment Account
Held inside the account: 1% a year on the value above €50,000, and no tax when you take money out
€425,952
You put in€240,000
Growth before tax€212,721
1% tax−€26,769
Not using a Personal Investment Account
Same fund, without the account
Bought the usual way: 35% exit tax on gains, charged every 8 years (deemed disposal) and when sold. Shown as if sold at the end
€374,339
You put in€240,000
Growth before tax€206,675
Exit tax−€72,336
Deposit account at 2.75%
Left in a savings account: 33% DIRT on each year's interest
€290,155
You put in€240,000
Interest before tax€74,858
DIRT−€24,703

The 1% first applies in year 5, and only on the part above €50,000.

The account ends €51,612 ahead of the same fund held outside it. Outside, deemed disposal charges 35% on the gain every eight years whether or not anything is sold, and exit tax takes 35% of what is left on the way out. Inside, the only tax is the 1% on the part above €50,000.

How the Account Builds

What each one earns on top of the €240,000 you put in, after tax. The green band shows where the account is ahead of the same fund held outside it.

In the account Fund outside, if sold On deposit Where the account is ahead
€0
€50k
€100k
€150k
€200k
0
4
8
12
16
20
+€185,952
+€134,339
+€50,155
Years

Disclaimer and accuracy notice. This calculator provides estimates for guidance purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. It assumes a constant growth rate net of charges, the same for the account and for the fund held outside it, with contributions paid monthly and growth compounding each month; real returns vary from year to year and can be negative. Figures are in future euro, with no allowance for inflation. The Personal Investment Account is modelled on the rules announced in Budget 2027 on 6 October 2026, which are not yet law: a limit of €12,000 a year, no tax on the first €50,000 of account value, and 1% a year on the value above €50,000, worked out here on the average of the month-end values in each year, close to the daily average the scheme will use and taken from the account, with no further tax on withdrawal. Each year of the projection is treated as a full year with the full €12,000 allowance; whether the whole allowance applies in 2027, when accounts open on 1 July, has not been confirmed. The fund held outside the account is taxed at the 35% exit tax rate that applies from 1 January 2027, on a deemed disposal every eight years and on a sale at the end, with the tax paid from the fund. Deposit interest is taxed at 33% DIRT each year. Provider fees for the account have not been published. Rates, thresholds and the rules themselves change with each Budget. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance. Speak to a qualified financial adviser before acting on any figure shown here.

Figures checked against Revenue and gov.ie on 7 October 2026, for the 2026 tax year. Next scheduled review: Budget 2028, October 2027. Personal Investment Account figures as announced in Budget 2027 on 6 October 2026, subject to the Finance Bill.

Frequently asked questions

About the account and this calculator.

It adds your monthly amount each month and grows the account at the rate you choose, after charges. Each year it takes 1% of the part of the account's value above €50,000. The same money is then run through a fund held outside the account and a deposit account, each taxed the way it is from 1 January 2027.
Anyone aged 18 or over who is resident in Ireland and has a PPS number. Each person can have one account at launch, and the Government has said more than one may be considered in future years.
There's no minimum, and the most is €12,000 a year, which is €1,000 a month. Allowance you don't use in a year doesn't carry forward.
As announced, there is no tax on the first €50,000 of account value. Above that, 1% a year is charged on the part above €50,000 only, worked out on the average of the account's daily values, whether the account rose or fell that year: a €60,000 account pays €100. The provider works it out and pays it to Revenue, and nothing more is due when you take money out. Capital gains tax, exit tax, dividend withholding tax, deemed disposal and the 1% levy on life assurance premiums do not apply inside the account.
As announced, no. The provider works out the 1%, reports it and pays it to Revenue for you. If you're not sure how it fits with the rest of your tax affairs, talk to us.
Listed shares and bonds, investment funds, ETFs and insurance-based investment products. Crypto assets and derivatives are not allowed. Cash can only be held for a short time while it waits to be invested, and earns no interest.
No. It's an investment account, not a savings account. Investments can fall as well as rise, and you could get back less than you put in.
Money moved in from a deposit account counts towards the €12,000 a year, so a larger sum takes several years to move across. Shares or funds you already hold can't be moved in outside the €12,000 either, and whether they can go in without being sold has not yet been confirmed.
No. Each account is in one person's name, and each person can hold one at a time. A couple can each open their own, which allows up to €24,000 a year between them and a €50,000 tax-free threshold each. Run the calculator once for each of you.
As announced, yes, at any time, with no minimum holding period and no tax on the way out. Unused allowance does not carry forward to the next year, and the rules have not yet said whether money taken out can be paid back in on top of that year's €12,000.
From 1 January 2027, funds and ETFs held outside the account are taxed at 35% on their gains. Every eight years, deemed disposal charges that tax as though the fund had been sold, even if it was not, so less is left to grow. Neither applies inside the account.
For most people, the pension usually comes first. It gets income tax relief on the way in, and often an employer contribution, but the money is tied up until retirement. This account has no relief on the way in, but the money can come out whenever you need it. Many people will want both, and the order is worth talking through with an adviser.
Both, and you may also see it called a Savings and Investment Account, or SIA. Budget 2027 calls it the Investment Account. It's the same scheme.
Not yet. Budget 2027 announced the rules on 6 October 2026, and the Finance Bill, expected within weeks, has to pass them. Accounts are due to open on 1 July 2027. Some details are still open, including whether the full €12,000 applies in 2027. The figures here will be updated when the rules are final.
Pension first?

Pension or the account?

For most people, the pension usually comes first: tax relief puts more in for the same cost to you. The account's strength is access. See how the two compare on your own figures.

Growth after charges
Your tax rate in retirement
For the same take-home pay
Into your pension €10,000 a year
Into the account €6,000 a year

Tax relief at 40% means €6,000 of take-home pay puts €10,000 into your pension.

After 20 years, what you keep
Pension, after tax€318,616
The account€218,304
The pension ends €100,312 ahead, after tax.

The trade-off is access. Pension money is tied up until you retire, generally from age 60, or from 50 in some cases. The account can be drawn on at any time.

Talk It Through With Us

How It Adds Up Over 20 Years

6% growth after charges · 20% tax plus 3% USC on pension income
Pension
Tax relief on the way in. At retirement, 25% comes out tax-free and the rest is taxed as income.
Paid in over 20 years€200,000
Growth€185,034
Tax when you draw it−€66,418
You keep €318,616
Personal Investment Account
No relief on the way in. 1% a year on the part above €50,000, and no tax on the way out.
Paid in over 20 years€120,000
Growth€108,334
1% tax−€10,030
You keep €218,304

€10,000 a year is 16.7% of your salary. Tax relief covers that from age 30, when the limit is 20% of earnings. If your employer also pays in, the pension's lead is larger still.

Disclaimer and accuracy notice. This comparison provides estimates for guidance purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. It uses the 2027 income tax, USC and PRSI rates announced in Budget 2027, for a single person, and the same growth rate for the pension and the account, net of charges, with contributions paid monthly. An employee's pension contributions get tax relief at their top rate of income tax; USC and PRSI still apply to them. For a company director, the account is funded from extra salary taxed at your top rates, with Class S PRSI at 4.35%, as for directors who own at least half the company; the company's pension contribution is treated as untaxed on the way in. At retirement, 25% of the pension is taken as a lump sum, tax-free up to €200,000 and taxed at 20% from €200,000 to €500,000, and the rest is taxed as income at the rate you choose plus 3% USC, drawn from age 66 when PRSI no longer applies. Any pension above the €2.8 million Standard Fund Threshold that applies from 2029 bears an extra 40% charge on the excess. Tax relief on your own contributions is limited by age and to earnings of €115,000. The Personal Investment Account is modelled on the Budget 2027 proposals, which are not yet law: up to €12,000 a year, and 1% a year on the average value above €50,000. Rates and rules change with each Budget. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. Speak to a qualified financial adviser before acting on any figure shown here.

Figures checked against Revenue and gov.ie on 7 October 2026. Next scheduled review: Budget 2028, October 2027.

Commentary

Our reading of the announcements.

In plain terms, all updated 9 October 2026. We revise them as the rules are settled.

A €50,000 tax-free threshold is more generous than many expected. The 1% charge is simple, but it is due in bad years as well as good.

Until 6 October, the account was a design without figures. Budget 2027 filled them in: up to €12,000 a year, no tax on the first €50,000 of account value, and 1% a year on the part above it. Accounts are due to open on 1 July 2027.

The threshold is the headline. Someone putting in the maximum would take a little over four years to reach it from contributions alone, and most savers will take much longer. Until then the account pays no tax at all: no exit tax, no capital gains tax, no dividend withholding tax and no deemed disposal.

Above €50,000 the charge is 1% of the excess, not of the whole account, so a €60,000 account pays €100 for the year. The catch is that it is charged on value rather than gains, so it is still due in a year when markets fall.

Outside the account, the Budget also cut exit tax on funds to 35% from 1 January 2027, and capital gains tax to 31% for sales from 7 October 2026. Both narrow the gap. Neither removes deemed disposal, which is where the account's advantage builds over time.

Nothing can be opened yet. The next step is the Finance Bill, and the detail in it matters as much as the headline figures.

A Budget announces; a Finance Bill legislates. The Government publishes the bill in the weeks after Budget day, and it is usually signed into law before Christmas. Because a separate Finance Act was passed in July, this year's post-Budget bill is expected to be the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026.

Four details are worth watching for: whether the full €12,000 applies in 2027 when accounts open halfway through the year, whether shares or funds you already hold can move in without being sold, what happens on death or emigration, and exactly which firms can offer it.

After that, providers need to build and price their accounts, and Revenue is expected to publish guidance. Fees and terms are unlikely to be public until well into 2027.

In the meantime there is nothing to sign up for. If you have money on deposit that you would one day like to invest, it is a good time to work out how much you want to keep in cash, and what you would want the account to do. We are happy to help you think it through: get in touch through our website, https://fmb.ie.

On a €100,000 account growing at 5%, the 1% takes about a tenth of the year's growth. Outside the account, tax takes a good deal more.

The charge only touches the part above €50,000, so it starts small. A €60,000 account pays €100 a year. A €100,000 account pays €500.

Set that against growth. A €100,000 account that grows by 5% gains €5,000 in the year, so the €500 charge is about a tenth of it. The same gain in a fund held outside the account would eventually face 35% exit tax, and deemed disposal would collect it every eight years whether or not anything was sold.

The comparison turns in a flat or falling year. Inside the account the 1% is still due, because it is charged on value. Outside, no gain means no tax. Over long periods of ordinary growth the account comes out well ahead; over short, poor periods it can fall behind.

Provider charges sit on top of all this, and none have been published yet. The calculator above lets you test a lower growth rate to allow for them.

The €12,000 limit covers money moved from a deposit account as well as new savings, and unused allowance is lost at the end of each year.

Many people who will use the account already have savings on deposit. Moving them in counts towards the same €12,000 a year as any monthly amount, so a larger sum moves across in stages.

€40,000 on its own would take four years to move in at the maximum. Someone also paying in €500 a month has €6,000 of room left each year, so the same €40,000 would take seven.

Allowance that is not used by 31 December is gone. It does not carry forward, which rewards using it steadily rather than in bursts.

A couple can each open an account, which doubles the yearly room to €24,000 and gives each of them a €50,000 threshold.

For most people, the pension usually comes first. Tax relief puts more in for the same cost to you; the account's strength is access.

A pension gets income tax relief on what you pay in, at 20% or 40%, and many employers add to it. If you run your own company, it can pay into your pension directly, with no income tax, USC or PRSI on the way in. In exchange the money is tied up until retirement, and the income you draw from it is taxed.

The account has no relief on the way in. What it offers instead is access: money can come out at any time, with no tax on the way out.

So for retirement savings, the pension usually wins on tax, even after the tax you pay when you draw it. The account comes into its own for money you may need in five or ten years, such as a house deposit, school fees or a cushion, and for savings beyond what your pension can take with tax relief.

For most people the answer will be a mix, and the right order depends on your tax rate, your employer's scheme and your plans. It is worth talking through with us before July 2027: visit our website, https://fmb.ie, or email us at info@fmb.ie.

Banks, investment firms and life companies are getting ready. Before choosing one, ask who actually holds the account.

The account will be offered by authorised firms, not by the State. The Government's proposal points to investment firms, fund managers and their European equivalents, and the insurance industry says the Budget confirmed that insurers will be recognised as providers too.

Several firms have said they plan to offer an account. None has yet published fees, minimums or full terms, so there is nothing to compare yet.

When there is, price will not be the only difference. A broker or adviser may sell an account without being the firm that holds it, and the firm that holds it is the one that works out your tax. These are worth asking:

  • Which firm holds the account and reports the tax to Revenue?
  • What is the total yearly cost, with every charge included?
  • Is advice included, and how is it paid for?
  • Which investments can I hold in it?
  • What does it cost to move the account elsewhere?

Sources: Department of Finance, Roadmap for the Taxation of Retail Investment, 31 August 2026; Statement by the Minister for Finance on Budget 2027, 6 October 2026; Revenue. This guide is general information about announced proposals, not financial advice.

Before you invest

Are you ready to invest?

Eight quick questions to check whether now is a good time to invest, or whether something else should come first.

  1. 1Everyday costs
  2. 2Rainy-day fund
  3. 3Expensive debt
  4. 4Repayments
  5. 5Pension
  6. 6When you need it
  7. 7Ups and downs
  8. 8Staying invested

Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. This is general guidance, not financial advice.

Question 1 of 8

Can you comfortably cover your bills and everyday costs each month?

Talk to us

Would you like to go through this in more detail?

We are happy to talk through what the account could mean for you, and how it sits alongside your pension, your savings and your business. Visit our website or send us an email, and we will come back to you.

Visit our websitehttps://fmb.ie Email usinfo@fmb.ie

FMB Advisory limited. We will keep this page up to date as the rules are settled.

Next announcement

The Finance Bill, expected within weeks.

The Budget announced the account. The Finance Bill writes it into law. It is usually published in the weeks after Budget day and signed into law before Christmas. This year's is expected to be the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026, as a separate Finance Act was passed in July. We will update this page as soon as it is published.

What to watch for in it
01

Death and emigration

What happens to the account if you die or move abroad.

02

The first year

Whether the full €12,000 applies in 2027, when accounts open in July.

03

What you already hold

Whether shares or funds can move in without being sold.

04

Who can offer it

Exactly which firms can provide the account.

From roadmap to opening day 2026 to 2027
31 August 2026
The roadmap is published
The Department of Finance sets out how the account would work.
6 October 2026
Budget 2027
The limit, the threshold, the 1% rate and the opening date.
Oct to Dec 2026Next
The Finance Bill
The detailed rules go before the Oireachtas.
1 January 2027
Exit tax falls to 35%
For funds held outside the account. Deemed disposal stays.
Early 2027, expected
Providers publish their terms
Fees, minimums and investment choice.
1 July 2027
Accounts open
The first day money can go in.
Where things stand

What we know so far.

Everything here still has to pass in the Finance Bill. We have sorted it by how firm it is, and we will move items across as the rules are settled.

Announced 6 October 2026

The figures

Up to €12,000 a year, with no minimum
No tax on the first €50,000 of account value
1% a year on the part above €50,000, in a good year or a bad one
The provider works out the tax and pays it to Revenue
No exit tax, capital gains tax, dividend withholding tax or deemed disposal inside the account, and no 1% insurance levy
Accounts open on 1 July 2027
Outside the account, exit tax falls to 35% on 1 January 2027, and capital gains tax fell to 31% on 7 October 2026
Announced 6 October 2026

The rules

For Irish residents aged 18 or over with a PPS number, with one account each at launch
In one name only, so a couple would open one each
Money can come out at any time, with no further tax
Listed shares and bonds, funds, ETFs and insurance-based investments can be held; crypto and derivatives cannot
Cash is held only briefly, while it waits to be invested, and earns no interest
The account can move to another provider without tax, where possible
The 1% is worked out on the average of the account's daily values
Not decided Still open

Still to be settled

Whether more than one account will be allowed in future
Whether the full €12,000 applies in 2027, when accounts open halfway through the year
Whether shares or funds you already hold can move in without being sold. Either way, they count towards the €12,000
Whether money taken out can be paid back in on top of that year's €12,000
What happens if you emigrate, or on death
Whether there will be a version for children
Provider fees, minimums and investment choice