Tax refund when you leave employment to start a business.

You may be eligible if: 

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

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

You may receive an Income Tax refund in the year of investment and the previous six years to help establish your new company. This refund depends on your gross pay and the amount of tax you paid in 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 set up your new company, which must be an SME carrying on relevant trading activities. The investment must be based on a business plan, and 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 the investment will be used for research and development activities.