What we’ll keep pushing for after Budget 2026

Every year, the Budget brings a mix of progress and frustration for Irish savers, investors and business owners. Budget 2026 was no different, delivering some small steps forward, but also many issues still left unaddressed.

As your financial adviser, part of our job is to help you make the most of the rules that exist today. But another part of our role is to keep highlighting where those rules fall short, especially where they discourage sensible saving, long-term investment and prudent wealth transfer.

Here are five areas we’ll keep pushing for after Budget 2026 through our various trade bodies and lobby groups. We believe these are areas where change would make a real difference to people like you.

1. Reducing the Investment Exit Tax Rate Further

Ireland’s investment exit tax rate was reduced in Budget 2026 from 41% to 38%. This is the tax applied to gains within investment funds and life assurance policies, and remains one of the highest comparable rates in Europe. The rate still sits well above the standard Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rate of 33%. This differential continues to penalise ordinary investors who choose regulated fund structures over direct shareholdings.

The logic for maintaining such a high rate no longer holds. We are in an environment where government wants to encourage more people to invest for the long term. Whether this is to build wealth, save for children, or reduce reliance on property as an investment – keeping the exit tax at 38% sends the wrong signal.

A fairer outcome would be to bring the exit tax fully into line with CGT. That small adjustment would make investing more attractive, particularly for first-time investors and those using diversified funds. It would also bring Ireland closer in line with our European neighbours.

2. Abolishing the Eight-Year Deemed Disposal Rule

The so-called “deemed disposal” rule is another unique quirk of the Irish tax code. Every eight years, investors in funds and ETFs are taxed as if they had sold their holdings. This applies even if they haven’t sold anything and haven’t realised any actual gain.

This creates a tax bill on paper profits, reducing investments to pay tax on money they haven’t received. It undermines one of the core principles of investing: that compounding works best when you can leave your money untouched over the long term.

Many investors are caught by surprise when this rule applies for the first time. It adds unnecessary complexity, discourages long-term holding and makes Irish funds less competitive internationally.

Removing the deemed disposal rule would simplify the system, align Ireland with international norms and reward patient investors rather than penalising them.

3. Allowing Losses Within Investment Funds to Be Offset

Another area ripe for reform is how losses are treated within investment funds. Currently, investors in direct shares can offset losses against gains. This is a sensible and fair approach that recognises that investment returns fluctuate. But investors in funds can’t do the same, the current tax structure doesn’t allow losses to be offset when calculating tax due.

This asymmetry discourages diversification into investment funds and puts collective investment vehicles at a disadvantage. Allowing loss offsetting within funds would bring consistency, fairness and common sense to the tax treatment of different types of investment.

4. Increasing the Small Gift Exemption

The Small Gift Exemption, which allows anyone to gift up to €3,000 per year to another person tax-free, has been stuck at that same level since 2004. Over the intervening two decades, inflation and rising living costs have eroded its real value. What €3,000 could once do in terms of helping a child with education, a deposit or day-to-day support is now worth far less.

Raising the exemption to €5,000 (or at least indexing it to inflation) would make a meaningful difference for families trying to transfer wealth gradually and sensibly across generations. It would also reduce the need for larger, tax-triggering gifts later in life.

For many parents and grandparents, these small, regular gifts are one of the simplest ways to support loved ones. We believe passionately that the system should recognise and encourage that.

5. Raising the CAT Thresholds

Similarly, Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) thresholds have failed to keep pace with both property prices and general inflation.

For example, the Group A threshold that applies to transfers from parents to children currently stands at €400,000. In today’s Ireland, where even modest homes can exceed that value, many inheriting families are now facing tax bills on inheritances that would once have been fully exempt. To give a sense of this, back in 2009 – just before the financial crash – this threshold stood at almost €550,000.

Increasing these thresholds to a more realistic, contemporary level would not only reflect today’s economic reality but also help preserve family wealth across generations. A more generous and regularly updated set of thresholds would ensure that ordinary families aren’t unfairly penalised by asset inflation.

In Summary

Budget 2026 moved the dial a little in relation to exit tax, but there’s still work to do to make our tax and investment system fairer, simpler and more supportive of long-term financial planning.

We’ll keep pushing for policies that reward responsible saving, prudent investing and thoughtful inter-generational planning. Until then, our role remains clear – to help you navigate the system as it stands today, make smart decisions within the current rules, and prepare for the changes still to come.