Budget 2026 & PAYE Modernisation - Last verified 21 April 2026

PAYE Modernisation 2026 Updates - What Changed and Which Software is Ready

Budget 2026 raised USC bands, nudged PRSI, widened SARP and FED reliefs, and added the new My Future Fund AEPN workflow alongside every PAYE Modernisation PSR. Here is what changed, which payroll vendors have shipped 2026-compliant releases, and what to check before your next pay run.

What Budget 2026 changed for payroll software

Five concrete changes landed from 1 January 2026. Your payroll software should apply them automatically - verify on your first post-Budget pay run.

Auto-Enrolment (My Future Fund) go-live

My Future Fund launched on 1 January 2026. Payroll software must now retrieve AEPNs from NAERSA alongside RPNs from Revenue, calculate phased employee, employer, and State contributions, and submit data to NAERSA on or before each pay date.

USC 2% band increase

The 2% USC band was raised by €1,318 to €28,700, reflecting minimum-wage and national-pay movement. Payroll software must apply the new threshold to every employee from the first 2026 pay run.

PRSI incremental increases

Budget 2026 continued the multi-year plan of incremental PRSI rate increases for employers and employees. Exact rate tables are published by Revenue and must be reflected in your vendor's 2026 release.

SARP and FED updates

SARP extended to 2030 with minimum eligible salary raised from €100,000 to €125,000. FED extended to 2030 with maximum relief raised from €35,000 to €50,000. Both effective 1 January 2026.

Status as of 21 April 2026 - based on public release notes and vendor guidance

Payroll vendors - 2026 release status

Every vendor below is reviewed against Vendors.ie data and public 2026 statements. Confirm your specific installed version directly before your next pay run.

BrightPay

2026 release shipped. BrightPay published 2026 availability and auto-enrolment help guides. Full PAYE Modernisation, Budget 2026 tax-table updates, and NAERSA AEPN workflow covered. SEPA XML for AIB, BOI, PTSB, Ulster Bank. From €229/year.

Collsoft Payroll

2026 release shipped. Collsoft published an Auto-Enrolment webinar on 7 October 2025 and maintains regular Budget-update cycles. Full PAYE Modernisation and SEPA XML for AIB, BOI, PTSB. Strong in construction with RCT and CSO reporting. From €199/year.

Thesaurus Payroll Manager

2026 release shipped. Shares the Auto-Enrolment engine with BrightPay (same Dublin vendor). Full PAYE Modernisation and ROS integration. Most affordable fully compliant Irish payroll option. From €229/year ex VAT for up to 10 employees.

Big Red Book Payroll

2026 release shipped December 2025. Big Red Cloud / Big Red Book Payroll 2026 includes full My Future Fund functionality with AEPN lookups, automatic contribution calculation, and NAERSA submissions. Auto-enrolment features included at no extra cost.

Sage Payroll Ireland

2026 release shipped. Sage 50 Payroll Ireland update available from late 2025 with AEPN retrieval and automatic employee, employer, and State contribution calculation. Sage publishes Irish-market knowledge-base articles covering Budget 2026 workflow changes.

Surf Payroll

Public 2026 release statement not located. Surf Accounts (CPM Software) is Irish-hosted and maintains regular update cycles, but a dedicated 2026 / AEPN readiness announcement has not been found at time of writing. Contact CPM Software directly.

Payroller

PAYE Modernisation supported. Public 2026 / My Future Fund / AEPN readiness statement not located. Verify directly with Payroller before relying on it for the 2026 tax year and auto-enrolment.

QuickBooks Payroll

Intuit has not published dedicated Irish 2026 or My Future Fund guidance. Irish PAYE Modernisation and AEPN support cannot be confirmed from public sources. Not recommended as a standalone Irish payroll tool - pair QuickBooks accounting with a dedicated Irish payroll vendor.

Xero (accounting only)

Xero is an accounting platform, not a payroll system - no PAYE Modernisation or AEPN handling directly. Pair Xero with BrightPay, Collsoft, or Thesaurus for Irish payroll compliance.

Pre-pay-run checklist for the 2026 tax year

Run through this before your first post-Budget pay run to catch issues before Revenue does.

  1. 1

    Confirm you are on the vendor's 2026 release

    Check your payroll software version against the vendor's published 2026 release notes. Older versions may calculate incorrect USC, miss the updated PRSI rates, or fail to generate AEPN contributions.

  2. 2

    Test the AEPN workflow end-to-end

    Run an AEPN lookup for one eligible employee, process a pay run, and verify the employee, employer, and State contributions appear correctly on the payslip. Confirm the submission reached NAERSA.

  3. 3

    Reconcile the first pay run against Revenue's Statement of Account

    Revenue publishes a monthly Statement of Account summarising PAYE, PRSI, USC, and LPT liabilities. Reconcile your first 2026 pay run totals against the statement before payment is due (14th of the following month, 23rd for ROS direct debit).

  4. 4

    Update SARP and FED calculations if relevant

    If you employ staff on SARP or FED relief, confirm your software applies the new €125,000 minimum SARP salary and €50,000 FED maximum relief from 1 January 2026.

  5. 5

    Document any manual adjustments

    Corrections to PSRs must be filed through the same ROS connection - you cannot reverse a correction once filed. Document every manual adjustment and reconcile to the AEPN contributions NAERSA collects by direct debit.

For Irish employers, payroll bureaus, and HR managers

PAYE Modernisation 2026 - frequently asked questions

What changed in PAYE Modernisation for 2026?
PAYE Modernisation itself did not change structurally - real-time Payroll Submission Requests (PSRs) via ROS remain the core obligation. What changed in 2026 is the surrounding tax-table and scheme updates that payroll software must apply from the first pay run. Auto-Enrolment (My Future Fund) went live on 1 January 2026, adding AEPN retrieval and contribution submissions alongside each PSR. Budget 2026 raised the 2% USC band by €1,318 to €28,700 and continued the incremental PRSI increases under the multi-year plan. SARP minimum salary increased from €100,000 to €125,000 and FED maximum relief rose from €35,000 to €50,000, both effective 1 January 2026.
Which payroll software is current for 2026?
BrightPay, Collsoft, Thesaurus Payroll Manager, Big Red Book Payroll, and Sage Payroll Ireland have all published 2026 releases covering the Budget 2026 tax-table changes and the new AEPN workflow for My Future Fund. Big Red Book Payroll shipped its Payroll 2026 update in December 2025 with full AEPN lookups, automatic contribution calculation, and NAERSA submissions built in. Surf Payroll, QuickBooks Payroll, and Payroller have not published dedicated 2026 statements tying all Budget 2026 changes plus AEPN workflow to a single release - contact each vendor directly.
What is the current PAYE Modernisation API version?
Revenue publishes the PAYE Modernisation web services via its GitHub documentation (revenue-ie/paye-employers-documentation) and through a dedicated developer portal on revenue.ie. Revenue operates two PIT (Payroll Integration Testing) environments. The documentation set references PIT4 REST integration guides. For authoritative current versioning, reference Revenue's GitHub documentation or its Software Developers support pages - vendors must read against the latest published specification.
What is an AEPN and how does it relate to RPNs?
An Auto-Enrolment Payroll Notification (AEPN) is the instruction NAERSA issues to your payroll software to start, change, or stop an employee's My Future Fund contribution. It works like a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) - your software requests AEPNs at the start of each pay run in the same workflow. The technical integration is separate from PAYE Modernisation - AEPNs come from NAERSA, RPNs come from Revenue - but modern Irish payroll software handles both in one unified pay-run workflow.
Do I need to update my payroll software every year?
Yes. Irish payroll software vendors ship annual updates covering Revenue's published tax tables, any Budget changes to USC bands, PRSI classes, and tax credits, and any new reporting schemes (most recently My Future Fund). If you run a version older than the current tax year's release, your PSRs may calculate incorrect net pay or miss required submissions. Confirm your vendor's 2026 release is installed before the first post-Budget pay run.
What are the USC and PRSI changes for 2026?
The 2% USC band was widened by €1,318 to €28,700, reflecting minimum-wage and national-pay increases. Budget 2026 continued the Government's multi-year plan of incremental PRSI rate increases for employers and employees. Full rates and thresholds are published in Revenue's 2026 tax tables. Every Irish payroll vendor should reflect these in their 2026 release - verify on your first post-Budget pay run.
What is SARP and what changed for 2026?
SARP - the Special Assignee Relief Programme - is income-tax relief for employees assigned from abroad to work in Ireland. Budget 2026 extended SARP to 2030 and raised the minimum eligible salary from €100,000 to €125,000 effective 1 January 2026. Payroll software handling SARP deductions must apply the new threshold. Most Irish SMEs do not interact with SARP, but if you employ any SARP-eligible staff, confirm the 2026 threshold is applied correctly.
What is FED and what changed for 2026?
FED - the Foreign Earnings Deduction - is relief for Irish-resident employees working abroad in certain qualifying countries. Budget 2026 extended FED to 2030 and increased the maximum relief from €35,000 to €50,000 effective 1 January 2026. Affects a narrow cohort of Irish employees working in qualifying markets; confirm your payroll software applies the updated maximum.
What should I do now to stay PAYE Modernisation compliant?
Three things. First, confirm your payroll software is on its 2026 release - not a 2025 carry-over. Second, reconcile your first 2026 pay run against Revenue's Statement of Account to catch any USC, PRSI, or tax-credit mismatches early. Third, ensure AEPN retrieval is wired in for every employee eligible for Auto-Enrolment - NAERSA contributions are due from the first payrolls of 2026 regardless of employer registration status.

Official sources

Last verified 21 April 2026. Regulatory-clock pages are reviewed quarterly. Next review due 21 July 2026.

Related reading on Vendors.ie

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