The calculator has shown you what more you could put in this year and roughly what it would cost you after tax relief. Whether you should, and how much of it, depends on your scheme rules, what else the money is needed for, and the retirement you are actually planning. That part is worth a conversation.
A no-obligation, free discovery call with a Pathway planner. Nothing is sold on it.
The number you have just seen is a ceiling, not a target. Revenue caps the employee pension contributions that qualify for Income Tax relief in a year at a percentage of your earnings, and that percentage rises as you get older. Whatever you have already paid through payroll comes off the top. What is left is the headroom the calculator showed you.
| Age | Maximum percentage of relevant earnings |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | 15% |
| 30–39 | 20% |
| 40–49 | 25% |
| 50–54 | 30% |
| 55–59 | 35% |
| 60 or over | 40% |
Source: Revenue, Tax relief limits on pension contributions, published 22 October 2025.
Two further limits sit behind that percentage. Only earnings up to €115,000 a year are taken into account, and your employer's contributions are not counted when your own earnings threshold is worked out.
Relief is given at your highest rate of Income Tax. It does not extend to USC or PRSI, so the saving is smaller than your headline deduction rate suggests. And filling the headroom to the last euro is not automatically the right move. Money in a pension is locked away until retirement, so it has to be money you can genuinely do without between now and then.
Four things worth settling before a single euro moves.
AVCs are made by employees who are members of an occupational pension scheme, and the scheme's own rules have to permit them. Where they do not, your employer must give you access to a standard PRSA for AVC purposes. We confirm which applies to you first.
The maximum and the sensible figure are rarely the same. We look at what else the money has to cover, a mortgage, children, a cash buffer, and set a contribution you can keep up rather than one you reverse in March.
Where your employer deducts the contribution, relief usually comes through payroll. Where it does not, a PAYE worker claims through Revenue's myAccount and submits an AVC certificate with the return. Self-employed claims go through ROS on the Form 11.
An AVC is a contribution, not an investment decision. The fund it buys, the charges on that fund and the level of risk still have to be chosen, and those are what decide the value by the time you need it.
Pathway was built by two planners who believe advice should be clear, honest and genuinely on your side.
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsCFP®, BBM, QFA, RPA, SIA
Paul is driven by making a tangible difference in clients' lives, and takes real satisfaction in knowing his work supports individuals and their families through decisions that are rarely straightforward.
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsQFA, RPA, SIA, BBS
A natural problem solver, Anthony thrives on finding the real challenge, working out how to resolve it, and putting the solution in place alongside the client.
Three plain stages, at your pace. You can stop after any one of them.
Twenty minutes or so, by phone or video. You tell us your age, what you earn, what is already going in and what you were thinking of adding. Nothing is sold on that call.
We check what your scheme permits, confirm the headroom against what has actually been paid this year, and set out what the contribution would cost you after relief.
You get the options written down: the amount, where it would be invested, and how the relief gets claimed. What you do with it is entirely your decision.
The ones that come up most often once somebody knows their headroom.
AVCs are made by employees who are members of an occupational pension scheme, and the scheme's rules have to permit them. Where a scheme does not allow AVCs, the employer must offer access to a standard PRSA for AVC purposes. If you are not in an occupational scheme, other routes such as a PRSA or a personal retirement plan may suit your circumstances instead. Worth ten minutes on the phone to establish which of those you are in.
Not necessarily as a payment into your account. Relief reduces the Income Tax you pay. Where the contribution is deducted by your employer you generally see it in your net pay; where you claim it afterwards it is handled through your tax position for the year. What it comes to depends on your marginal rate, your available headroom and your own circumstances.
No. Employee pension contributions get relief from Income Tax only. USC and PRSI are still charged on the amount, which is why the true cost of an AVC is higher than a simple marginal-rate calculation would suggest.
Not automatically. The figure is a Revenue ceiling for relief, not a recommendation about what suits you. If contributing that much would leave you without a cash buffer, or under pressure on a mortgage, a smaller contribution you can sustain year after year usually does more good than one large one you regret.
There is a route for it. A once-off PRSA AVC made after the year end can, up to the following 31 October, be elected to be treated as paid in that earlier tax year. Filing through ROS extends that deadline, and the extended date is set each year, so check the current one for the year you are dealing with rather than assuming. It is worth looking at your position early rather than in the last week.
Bring your figure and your scheme details. We will tell you plainly whether the contribution makes sense, and what we would check first.
Or email info@pathwayfinman.ie
APFM Limited, trading as Pathway Financial Management, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in Ireland No. 759815. Directors: Paul McGrane, Anthony Richardson.
Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
Warning: These figures are estimates only. They are not a reliable guide to future performance of this investment.
This page is general information about pension contributions and tax relief. It is not personal financial or tax advice and does not take account of your own circumstances. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.