Revenue eBrief No. 071/26

07 April 2026

Pension Manual Chapter 4 Amended

Chapter 4 of the Revenue Pension Manual, dealing with Contributions by employers, has been amended as follows.

The previous reference in Paragraph 4.1 to "meaningful" employer contributions has been removed.  The paragraph now refers to the minimum contributions which remove an employee from the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Scheme in respect of that employment. The minimum contributions rates are provided for in Statutory Instrument No. 668/2025.

Paragraph 4.3 deals with the spreading forward of "special" or non-ordinary annual employer contributions under section 774(6)(d) Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA). It now states that a spread forward will not be necessary if a special contribution does not exceed the ordinary annual contribution.

Paragraph 4.8, dealing with the refund of employer contributions, now states that such refunds may be made without Revenue approval if they were made in error and the period of the overpayment was less than a year.  It also advises that, if a deduction has been taken for the amount overpaid, any refund is taxable under section 782 TCA.