RSU Tax in Ireland: What You Pay at Vesting, and When You Sell

How RSUs are taxed in Ireland: two taxes, two moments

In short: at vesting you pay Income Tax, USC and PRSI on the full market value of the shares, through payroll. At sale you pay CGT at 31% only on the growth since vesting. The first is automatic; the second you calculate, pay and file yourself.

Revenue's page on restricted stock units sets out the vesting rule: tax is charged on the vesting date, or the date the shares pass to you if that's earlier, on their market value, and your employer deducts it through payroll. The Share Schemes Manual adds that the value and the currency conversion are both fixed at the vesting date.

What you pay when your RSUs vest

In short: the RSUs are added on top of your salary, so they're taxed at your top rates. Above €44,000 (single) and above the €70,044 USC threshold, that's 40% Income Tax, 8% USC and PRSI at 4.2%, or 4.35% from 1 October 2026: 52.2% before October and 52.35% after.

• On a lower salary, part of the vest is taxed at 20%. With €40,000 of salary, a €20,000 vest in March 2026 pays €7,200 Income Tax (€4,000 at 20%, €16,000 at 40%), €600 USC at 3% and €840 PRSI at 4.2%: €8,640, or 43.2%.
• Married, one income: the 20% band is €53,000 instead of €44,000, so up to €9,000 more of a vest can be taxed at 20% rather than 40%, worth up to €1,800 if your salary sits below the band.
• From 2027, Budget 2027 raises the single 20% band to €46,500, and PRSI stays at 4.35% until it rises to 4.5% in October 2027, as announced and subject to the Finance Bill. A top-rate vest in 2027 pays 52.35%, and 52.5% from October.

The RSU tax calculator does this for your own salary and vest, using the bands and credits for the year the shares vest and the PRSI rate for that month.

Sell-to-cover: the shares you never see

In short: most plans sell enough shares on the vesting date to pay the tax. In the €20,000 example, €10,470 of tax at €100 a share means 105 shares are sold, you keep 95, and the €30 left over comes back through payroll.

• The shares sold to cover are your sale, not your employer's. They're disposed of at about the vesting price, so the gain is close to zero, but they belong on your CGT return for that year along with any other sales.
• Your payslip shows the vest as pay and the tax as a deduction. Check that the value matches the vest confirmation from your broker, converted at the vesting-date rate, and that USC and PRSI were applied, not only Income Tax.
• If your plan doesn't sell to cover, the tax comes out of your cash salary. A large vest can then leave a small or even negative net payslip that month; the shares themselves are untouched.

When you sell: CGT on the growth since vesting

In short: your base cost is the euro value on the vesting date, the amount already taxed through payroll. If you sell above it, the difference is a capital gain taxed at 31%, after the €1,270 exemption if you haven't used it on other gains that year.

• Sell soon after vesting and there's usually little or no CGT. The sale price is close to the base cost, so the gain is small, and the €1,270 exemption often covers it. You still have to report the sale.
• A loss can't recover the payroll tax. If the shares fall below their vesting value, the loss is a capital loss: it offsets other gains this year or later ones, but never the Income Tax, USC and PRSI already paid at vesting.
• Fees count. Broker commissions on the sale reduce the gain. Keep the trade confirmation, because Revenue expects the records behind every figure.
• Shares from several vests are matched first in, first out. If you sell part of your holding, Irish rules treat the oldest shares as sold first, unless you acquired shares in the four weeks before the sale, which are matched first. Our capital gains tax guide explains the matching rules.

Dollars and euro: the conversion that catches people out

In short: both sides of the gain are in euro. Convert the vesting value at the vesting-date rate and the sale at the sale-date rate. A share that gains in dollars can show a smaller gain, or a loss, in euro, and a falling euro can create a taxable gain on a flat share price.

• Use the same rate as your payslip for the base cost. Revenue's manual fixes the currency conversion at the vesting date, so the euro value taxed at vesting is your base cost, whatever your broker shows in dollars.
• Don't use the dollar cost basis from your US broker. Platforms like E*TRADE, Schwab or Fidelity report a dollar figure for US purposes. For Irish CGT you need the euro values, which are often quite different.
• Keeping the dollars after a sale is a separate step. Holding the proceeds in a dollar account and converting later can itself produce a gain or loss on the currency, which we can check for you.

Moving to or leaving Ireland with unvested RSUs

In short: what matters is where you're tax resident on the vesting date. Revenue taxes RSUs in full if you're Irish resident when they vest, with no apportionment for time worked abroad, and doesn't tax them if you're no longer resident when they vest.

• Arriving with unvested RSUs: a grant from your old job abroad that vests after you become Irish resident is taxable here in full. Your previous country may also tax the part earned there, so check the tax treaty for credit; claiming foreign tax relief means filing an Irish tax return by 31 October of the following year.
• Leaving before a vest: if you're not Irish resident when the shares vest, Ireland doesn't tax them. But Irish residence is decided for the whole tax year, so leaving in June doesn't automatically make a July vest non-taxable; split-year treatment may help. Check before you go. Our tax residence checker runs the day count for you.
• Non-domiciled and working partly abroad: if you're resident but not Irish-domiciled, with a foreign employment and some duties in Ireland, Revenue accepts payroll tax on the part of the RSU linked to your Irish duties. This needs the facts right, so ask before relying on it.

If you're leaving, our guide to leaving Ireland and claiming your tax back covers the rest of the exit checklist.

Share options and ESPP: how they differ from RSUs

In short: since 1 January 2024 your employer also taxes share option gains through payroll, at exercise. In an employee share purchase plan (ESPP), the discount is taxed through payroll and your base cost is the full market value when the shares are bought.

• ESPP example from Revenue: shares worth €54 at the start of the offer period and €60 at the end, bought at 85% of €54 (€46). The €14 discount per share is taxed through payroll, and the base cost is €60 a share. See Revenue's ESPP page.
• Share options example from Revenue: 1,000 options at €3 exercised when the shares are worth €5 give a €2,000 gain, taxed at 40% plus 8% USC and PRSI. See Revenue's page on short options.

What Revenue asks you to file

In short: nothing for the vest itself if payroll handled it. For every sale, including sell-to-cover, you file a CGT return by 31 October of the following year, even if no tax is due: Form CG1 if you're a PAYE employee, or the CGT section of Form 11 if you're self-assessed.

• Dividends on the shares you keep are income. Declare them on your tax return each year. US withholding, usually 15% with a W-8BEN form under the treaty, can be credited against the Irish tax on the same dividend.
• Keep a file per vest: the vest confirmation, the payslip showing the tax, the exchange rate used, and every sale confirmation. You need them for the return and for six years after.
• If another country also taxed the vest and you claimed relief for it through payroll, Revenue expects an Income Tax return as well, due by 31 October of the year after the vest, even if your CGT is nil.

Before 15 December: a five-minute check

In short: list every share sale since 1 January, including the shares sold to cover your vests, convert each one to euro on both dates, and pay any CGT for January–November sales by 15 December 2026. Then check that a CGT return was filed for every earlier year with a sale.

1. Download the transaction history from your broker for 2026: vests, sell-to-cover sales and your own sales.
2. Put each vest's euro value next to it, from your payslip. That's your base cost.
3. Work out each sale in euro, take off the base cost and fees, and add up gains and losses for the year.
4. Take off the €1,270 exemption, pay 31% (33% for sales before 7 October 2026) by 15 December, and note the 31 October 2027 filing date.
5. If you've sold RSU shares in earlier years and never filed a CGT return, fix it now: late returns cost less the sooner they're filed.

The RSU tax calculator runs steps 2 to 4 for a single vest and sale. For a full year of vests, sales and dollar conversions, send us the broker statement and we'll do the return.

Related reading

• Capital gains tax in Ireland: rates, deadlines and returns
• Exit tax in Ireland: how ETFs are taxed
• Budget 2027 in Ireland: what changes for expats
• Tax for Americans in Ireland
• Capital gains tax calculator

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