Foreign Earnings Deduction (FED)
Who qualifies for FED?
In order to qualify for FED, you are required to work in a relevant state for at least 30 qualifying days.
You are required to work the number of qualifying days during a tax year or during a continuous 12-month period spanning two tax years.
You cannot claim FED in respect of income from an office or employment that is chargeable to tax on the remittance basis, or if you:
What country is a relevant state?
Relevant states include Brazil, India, China and South Africa and:
From 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2025:
From 1 January 2013:
- Egypt
- Algeria
- Senegal
- Tanzania
- Kenya
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From 1 January 2015:
- Japan
- Singapore
- Republic of Korea
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Chile
- Oman
- Kuwait
- Mexico.
From 1 January 2017:
From 1 January 2026:
What are qualifying days?
From 2015 to 2025, a qualifying day is one of at least three consecutive days worked in a relevant state. The time you spend travelling may be included within a qualifying day if you travel either:
- from Ireland to a relevant state
- from a relevant state to Ireland
- from one relevant state to another
- the day of arrival can be counted if you arrive in a relevant state the following day. Likewise, the day of departure can also be counted, provided that you arrive in another relevant state or in Ireland the day following your departure.
From 2026 to 2030, a qualifying day is any day spent working in a relevant state. This is provided you are present in the relevant state for business reasons connected to your work.
- Example 1
You are an Irish resident and employed by an Irish employer. You spend July and August 2026 in Vietnam. You continue to work remotely for your Irish employer while you are there. Your decision to visit Vietnam is a personal decision and is not connected with your employment duties. Therefore, the days spent working in Vietnam do not qualify for the relief.
Travel time may still be counted provided it satisfies the requirements described above.
A qualifying day cannot be counted more than once.
You can count Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays as qualifying days in a relevant state.
- Example 2
You worked 15 qualifying days in the period 1 June to 31 December 2024. You also worked 30 qualifying days in the period 1 January to 31 May 2025. Your number of qualifying days in a 12-month period is 45. You may claim the relief as follows:
• 2024 tax year: 15 days
• 2025 tax year: 30 days.
Next: How much allowance can you claim?