Directors’ pensions in 2026: what changed, and what to talk about.

Executive pensions set up before 22 April 2021

A company pension set up for one person (an executive pension, which the rules call a one-member arrangement) had five years’ grace from the governance rules that came in with the EU’s IORP II directive, if it was set up before 22 April 2021. That grace ended on 21 April 2026.

Since 22 April 2026, a scheme like this can carry on only if it meets the same rules as any other occupational pension scheme. Those include at least two trustees, or a company as trustee with two directors; people appointed to the risk management and internal audit roles; written policies and an own-risk assessment; and investment rules, with no new borrowing. For many one-person schemes that cost is out of proportion, and the Pensions Authority told trustees to find out their compliance obligations or their options for moving.

Most have moved or are moving: to a master trust, to a PRSA, or to a buy-out bond. A move to a PRSA is not allowed after the scheme’s normal retirement age. The Pensions Authority counted 40,644 one-member arrangements on 1 September 2026, down from 141,500 in January 2023, including some being wound up.

Sources: the Pensions Authority’s notice of 23 March 2026 and its conference figures of 15 September 2026; S.I. No. 128 of 2021; Revenue Pensions Manual, chapter 13. A one-member scheme set up on or after 22 April 2021 has had to meet the full rules since 1 July 2022.

Your company paying into a PRSA

Since 1 January 2025, what your company pays into your PRSA is tax-free for you, and the company can deduct it, up to 100% of your pay from the company that year. Pay here means all of it: salary, bonuses and other benefits. Anything above that is a taxable benefit-in-kind for you, and the company cannot deduct it.

A company scheme such as a master trust works differently. It is not held to this 100% test; it is limited by Revenue’s maximum funding rules, which turn on your salary, your service and your age.

Sources: Finance Act 2024, section 12; Revenue Pensions Manual, chapter 24.

The October window

Pension contributions you pay yourself, into a PRSA, a personal pension or as AVCs, can be set against the previous year’s income if you pay by 31 October and choose to. For 2025 income that is 31 October 2026, or 18 November 2026 if you both pay and file your tax return through ROS.

Company contributions cannot be backdated like this. The company deducts them in the accounting period in which it pays them, so the date that matters for those is the company’s year end, not October.

The director’s year-end checklist puts these dates and limits on one page you can print for your accountant.

Sources: Revenue Pensions Manual, appendix III and chapters 4 and 24; Revenue eBrief 034/26.

The Standard Fund Threshold

The cap on pension savings that get full tax relief is €2.2 million in 2026 and rises by €200,000 a year to €2.8 million in 2029, then with earnings. The €500,000 limit on retirement lump sums taxed at 20% or less stays where it is. The Standard Fund Threshold check shows how much of it your pensions would use in a given year.

Small self-administered schemes

A small self-administered scheme still needs a Revenue-approved pensioneer trustee. It cannot lend to its members or to the company, or buy property from the company or let property to it. If it has one member, the end of the five years’ grace applies to it too, and it can no longer take on new borrowing.

Sources: Revenue Pensions Manual, chapter 19; Pensions Act 1990, section 61B.