Updates
What is the Personal Investment Account? Ireland's 2027 investing shake-up
The plain-English explainer: the €50,000 threshold, 1% annual tax, €12,000 contribution limit, provider-run tax and 1 July 2027 launch.
Updated 3 September 2026
Correct as of the rules ledger v2026.10.8 (20 October 2026). This post was checked against the ledger on that date.
This September 2026 explainer is kept for the record. The up-to-date version, checked against the Finance Bill, is What is a Personal Investment Account?
The short version
For decades, investing in Ireland outside a pension has meant one of two bad options: leave money in a deposit account earning close to nothing after 33% DIRT, or buy funds and ETFs taxed at 38% (35% from 1 January 2027) with a rule that charges you tax every eight years whether or not you sold anything. The Personal Investment Account is the state's answer to that, and it is planned to launch on 1 July 2027.
Instead of taxing what you gain, it taxes what you hold. Once a year, above a tax-free threshold, a flat rate applies to the value of the account. You do not file trade-by-trade calculations. There is no deemed disposal. When the charge is paid, that is the end of it.
Announced, but not yet law
How it differs from what exists today
| Deposit account | Fund / ETF today | PIA from 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax rate | 33% DIRT on interest | 38% exit tax on gains (35% from 1 Jan 2027) | 1% on value above €50,000 |
| When you pay | As interest is credited | On sale, or every 8 years | Annually |
| Loss relief | n/a | No offset against other gains | None — charge is on value |
| Filing burden | None — deducted at source | Self-assessment | Reported by the provider |
| Tax-free amount | None | None | Yes — first €50,000 |
The trade-off is real and worth stating plainly: because the charge is based on value rather than gains, you can owe tax in a year your portfolio fell. That is the same design Sweden has run since 2012, and Sweden's answer was to exempt a base amount — which is exactly why Ireland's threshold matters so much.
Who can offer one
The roadmap names MiFID-authorised investment firms, regulated fund managers, and non-Irish EEA providers passporting into Ireland. That last category matters: it opens the door to the large European brokers Irish investors already use, rather than limiting the account to the pillar banks. See our provider directory for who has signalled intent so far.
Transfers between providers are intended to be tax-neutral, subject to operational feasibility. If that survives into the Finance Bill, switching costs fall and fee competition becomes the main battleground.
What you should do before 2027
- Keep funding your pension first — nothing in the PIA beats income tax relief at your marginal rate.
- Understand your existing holdings' eight-year clocks before assuming you can move them. There is no confirmed migration path for existing funds.
- Do not park a lump sum in cash "until the PIA arrives" without pricing the cost of waiting — our calculator shows what a year out of the market costs against DIRT-taxed deposit returns.
Frequently asked
What is a Personal Investment Account?
A proposed Irish investment account, planned to launch on 1 July 2027, that taxes the value of your holdings once a year at a flat 1% above a €50,000 tax-free threshold instead of taxing gains when you sell. The charge is final and there is no eight-year deemed disposal.
When will the PIA be available in Ireland?
Budget 2027 announced a planned launch on 1 July 2027, legislated through the Finance Bill 2026. Providers still need to publish their actual offerings.
What can you hold in a PIA?
Listed shares and bonds, retail funds and ETFs, and insurance-based investment products. Derivatives and crypto are excluded, and cash is limited to what is needed to settle transactions.
What tax rate will apply?
Budget 2027 set a flat 1% annual charge on account value above a €50,000 tax-free threshold, with a €12,000 annual contribution limit. The figures must still be enacted in the Finance Bill 2026.
Keep reading
- Lightyear confirms to PIA·IE its intention to offer a Personal Investment Account
- An Post Money targets 1 July 2027 for a Personal Investment Account
- Interactive Brokers Ireland considering a Personal Investment Account, subject to final rules
- The Finance Bill and the PIA: what section 26 says
- Irish Life will offer the account — and its page says July 2027
- Budget 2027: the PIA, decoded
- Trading 212 intends to offer the account; Revolut is weighing it up
- AIB plans to offer a PIA; Zurich says it will be available at launch
- PIA vs pension: which should an Irish saver fund first?
- All PIA and Irish investment tax guides
Run your own numbers
Compare a Personal Investment Account against a deposit account and a standard fund over 10, 20 or 30 years — with real Irish rates.
Open the PIA calculatorInformation only, not financial or tax advice. PIA rules are as written in the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2026, published 19 October 2026, and are not law until the Bill is signed. Figures cited are from the Department of Finance roadmap, Revenue, Skatteverket, GOV.UK and the IRS.