Tax refund for job leavers starting businesses

You may be eligible if: 

• You are an entrepreneur who is leaving PAYE employment (or recently unemployed) and starting your own company.
• You have mainly PAYE income in the previous four years
• For the three years preceding the year before the investment, you do not have earnings from any other source in excess of €50,000 or the employment income (whichever is lowest).

Eligibility is subject to terms and conditions which can be found on the Revenue website.

You can receive an Income Tax refund in the year of investment and the previous six years to help you establish your new company. This refund depends on your gross pay and the tax you paid over the previous years.  

The minimum investment you can make is €250 and the maximum investment is €140,000, per year of assessment under SURE.  You may claim relief for a SURE investment over a period of seven years, which means the maximum investment for which SURE is available is €980,000, and unused relief may be carried forward.   

You must use your refund to setup your new company which must be an SME, which will carry on relevant trading activities. The investment must be based on a business plan. Your company must demonstrate that the investment will contribute directly to the creation or maintenance of employment in the company or if your company is not yet trading that your company will use the investment for research and development activities.