Employee benefitsin Malta

Malta provides state-funded hospital and primary care for people who meet public-system entitlement rules. Coverage can arise through Maltese social security or qualifying European or bilateral arrangements; a foreign employee should establish their own entitlement and present the required residence or entitlement documents. Public hospitals and health centres provide emergency and medically necessary treatment to entitled users. Public dental access is limited and most routine dentistry is privately paid. Public entitlement and employer-paid private medical insurance are separate forms of protection.

From 1 January 2026, an employee experiencing a pregnancy loss before week 22 and the other expectant parent can each take seven working days of fully paid leave immediately after the miscarriage. The right includes part-time and probationary employees and has no minimum service requirement. Within two working days after returning, the employee provides a medical certificate; the other expectant parent also supplies a declaration signed by both parents. Employers can claim reimbursement from Social Security within three months. Pregnancy loss after week 22 falls under maternity leave.

Prospective parents undergoing medically assisted reproduction have a combined 100 hours of employer-paid leave per process, separate from other leave. The person receiving treatment receives 60 hours and the other prospective parent 40; when only one is employed, that employee receives their own 60- or 40-hour allocation. The entitlement covers procedures in or outside Malta and up to three processes. Written notice and medical certification are given at least two weeks beforehand, with proof of each parent’s role and the other parent’s employment status.

Employer-paid medical insurance adds private treatment access alongside public healthcare. A policy can cover inpatient care, outpatient treatment and other specified services, with networks, prior approval, exclusions and dependent access set by its terms. Employer health cover is becoming standard in Malta’s finance and online-gaming sectors, while smaller businesses provide it less often. The policy is separate from public entitlement and from an immigration policy required for a particular permit.

Some employer medical policies include dental treatment as an additional part of private cover. The policy determines routine versus emergency care, annual reimbursement, waiting periods and whether dependants can join. Dental cover should be assessed separately from the public system’s limited dental access; buying private medical insurance does not itself establish a specific dental limit.

Some private employer medical policies add optical cover, helping pay for eligible eye treatment or vision-related costs under the policy. The insured services and any spectacle, lens or examination allowance depend on the selected contract. Optical coverage is not an automatic statutory employer allowance.

Some employers offer a therapy allowance as part of wellbeing support. The employer determines the allowance, approved practitioners, reimbursement process and confidentiality arrangements. This is a voluntary employer benefit and should be assessed separately from public mental healthcare or an insurer’s standard coverage.

Some employers support fitness through gym memberships, a wellness allowance or organised exercise. A Betsson Malta customer-service role illustrates a €300 wellness allowance together with yoga and sports activities. Betsson’s Malta benefits policy also includes a yearly wellness allowance. The employee’s actual allowance and claim rules follow the applicable employer policy.

Employees injured while carrying out their duties can receive up to one year of injury leave at full pay, less any state injury benefit. The entitlement requires that the injury was not caused by the employee’s contributory negligence or breach of the employer’s safety rules. Annual leave and bonuses continue accruing while the employee remains on paid status. Applicable sectoral orders and the general minimum special-leave regulations govern the right.

Employees and employers normally each contribute 10% of basic weekly wages to Malta’s contributory social security system, which finances retirement and other insured benefits. In 2026, for people born from 1 January 1962, the percentage band is €229.45–€559.30 a week and each side pays a fixed €55.93 from €559.31 upwards. For people born up to 31 December 1961, the band ends at €490.38 and each side pays €49.04 from €490.39. Adult earnings up to €229.44 generally attract €22.94 from each side; the employee can elect 10% with proportional benefit consequences. Under-18 and student categories have separate rates. These payments are public social insurance, rather than an individual private pension account.

Eligible former employees and self-occupied people can claim unemployment benefit while registered with Jobsplus, Malta’s employment service, under Part I of its unemployment register. The contribution test normally requires at least 50 paid contributions overall and 20 paid or credited contributions in the two preceding calendar years. Benefit lasts at most 156 days, paid on a six-day week. In 2026 it replaces 60% of the relevant earnings for 10 weeks, 55% for the next 10 and 50% for the last six. The published daily minimum–maximum amounts are €20.64–€36.14, €18.93–€33.13 and €17.21–€30.11 for those stages. The calculation uses a minimum-wage floor and an earnings ceiling of 175% of the national minimum wage; individual contribution history controls entitlement.

After probation, an employer ending a fixed-term contract through redundancy must generally pay half the wages that would have fallen due for the remaining term. An employee ending a fixed-term contract early can likewise owe half the remaining wages; good and sufficient cause and other lawful exceptions affect application. A fixed-term employee otherwise receives the same ordinary minimum working conditions as an indefinite employee. There is no general salary-multiple severance payment for an ordinary indefinite contract, although notice, final accrued pay, unfair-dismissal remedies and contractual entitlements remain separate.

Some employers provide life insurance that pays a benefit to designated beneficiaries when an insured employee dies. Betsson’s Malta policy includes life insurance in its benefits package. The insurer’s policy determines the amount, eligible employees, beneficiaries, exclusions and any continuation after employment; this is separate from public survivor protection.

Some employers add insurance for temporary total disability, protecting employees who become fully unable to work for a covered temporary period. Betsson’s Malta policy includes this insurance in its package. The contract sets the waiting period, payment basis, maximum period and exclusions. It supplements statutory sickness and injury arrangements rather than replacing those employer obligations.

An employer can include an additional retirement plan in its compensation package alongside public social security. The scheme rules determine employer and employee contributions, eligibility, access age, investment arrangements and what happens when employment ends. A voluntary employer plan is separate from the compulsory public contribution.

An employee on a 40-hour week receives at least 192 hours of paid annual leave, equivalent to 24 eight-hour days. An additional normal working day is credited for each public holiday falling on a day when the full-time employee is not scheduled to work, including a weekend or another rostered rest day. For a standard Monday–Friday, eight-hour schedule, the three weekend holidays in 2026 produce 216 hours, or 27 days. Reduced hours and part-year service are proportionate; other schedules use the employee’s actual normal hours and roster. Leave accrues from the start of employment and its use is agreed with the employer.

Up to 50% can carry to the next year by agreement, must be used first and cannot carry again. At least 160 hours for a 40-hour week cannot be exchanged for cash except on termination. An employer normally may allocate at most 12 working days to shutdowns and must communicate shutdowns by the end of January. Annual leave continues accruing during maternity, sickness and injury leave; unused leave that could not be taken for those reasons transfers to the following year.

Paid sick-leave entitlement depends on the industry’s Wage Regulation Order, which sets minimum employment conditions for that sector. Where no such order applies, the entitlement is two working weeks a year, calculated in hours; on a five-day, eight-hour schedule this is 10 days or 80 hours. A medical certificate is required. The employer pays normal wages for the first three working days. For later eligible days within the employer-paid entitlement, the employer either pays the difference between wages and the state sickness benefit or pays wages and receives the employee’s state benefit as a refund. After the paid sick-leave entitlement is exhausted, only any qualifying state benefit continues.

Insured employees and self-occupied contractors can receive a state sickness payment from the fourth working day of certified incapacity. A self-occupied person works independently in a trade or profession. The claimant normally needs at least 50 paid social security contributions in total and 20 paid or credited contributions in the two calendar years before the claim year. The official blue medical certificate, which records incapacity and return-to-work dates, normally reaches Social Security within 10 days of the first sick day and is renewed every two weeks for a longer absence. An illness of no more than three working days does not require a state claim, although the employer can require a certificate.

Ordinary benefit can run to 156 benefit days, with Medical Board and contribution conditions governing extensions up to 468 benefit days in two years. A continuous accepted long-term claim converts from day 157 to increased sickness benefit; the published daily rates are €34.42 for a qualifying married claimant maintaining a spouse and €25.81 for a single claimant or someone whose spouse works full-time. Payment day rules differ from calendar days, and public holidays and Sundays normally do not generate payment for a working claimant.

From 1 January 2026, working parents who lose a child under 18 receive seven working days of paid parental bereavement leave based on basic wages. Part-time and reduced-hours employees receive proportional entitlement. Depending on the sector, the employer bears the first one or two days and Social Security funds the remaining days. The parent notifies the employer, which must claim reimbursement within three months of the leave.

Maltese law does not create a general special-leave entitlement for attending court as a witness. Hospital and clinic workers have a sector-specific paid entitlement when attending as witnesses in police cases. Other employees need an applicable contractual or collectively agreed arrangement or another agreed form of leave.

Employees receive paid bereavement leave following the death of a spouse, parent, child, brother or sister. Sectoral Wage Regulation Orders can set different entitlements; without an applicable order, the general entitlement is one working day. The separate 2026 parental bereavement entitlement provides a longer period when a child under 18 dies.

Employees receive paid leave for marriage under the Wage Regulation Order governing their industry. Where no sectoral order applies, the legal entitlement is two working days. The applicable sectoral instrument determines any different minimum, and an employer or collective agreement can add days.

Every employee can take five working days of unpaid carers’ leave each year to provide personal care or support to a relative or someone in the same household who needs assistance for a serious medical reason. The employee supplies medical proof of the illness and need for care. This is a separate unpaid entitlement; an employer can agree a more generous paid arrangement.

Employees receive at least 32 paid hours a year for urgent family reasons connected with illness or an accident affecting immediate family. These are taken from existing leave balances: the first 16 hours come from annual vacation leave and the second 16 from paid sick leave. The entitlement provides a route to emergency absence and does not create an extra 32-hour bank on top of both allowances.

Some employers fund sick leave above the applicable legal minimum. Betsson’s Malta policy offers 15 fully paid sick days and permits parents to use five of those days to care for sick children. The five care days come from that sick-leave allowance, rather than being an extra five-day entitlement. Other employers determine their own enhancements alongside their sector’s statutory baseline.

Some employers give employees a paid day or other time off around their birthday as an additional personal benefit. The employer’s policy determines how much leave is available, when it can be used and whether unused time expires. This sits outside ordinary statutory vacation entitlement.

Employers can agree paid vacation above the applicable statutory and roster-based holiday allowance. The employment contract sets the extra amount, accrual and approval rules. An employer package must be compared in hours against the worker’s actual schedule: a published number of vacation days does not establish an enhancement when the roster or calendar-year holiday credits differ.

Pregnant employees can take 18 uninterrupted weeks of maternity leave. The employer pays the first 14 weeks at normal salary; up to four further weeks are supported through the state maternity leave benefit rather than an employer obligation to continue salary. At least six weeks must follow the birth, and four weeks normally precede the expected birth unless employer and employee agree otherwise. The employee gives written notice at least four weeks before starting leave where reasonably practicable. Employees can attend antenatal examinations during working time without loss of pay. Where work creates a pregnancy, breastfeeding or post-birth health risk that cannot be removed, special maternity leave protects the employee for the risk period. The employee returns to the same post or a related post if the former role is unavailable. Employers can apply for reimbursement of the first 14 weeks under the maternity and adoption leave trust mechanism when the employee returns.

Fathers and equivalent second parents receive 10 working days of paid paternity leave immediately following a birth or adoption. The employee retains wages, and no minimum service or employment qualification applies. The entitlement applies per birth or adoption event rather than separately for each child in a multiple birth. It replaces the older short birth-leave entitlement and is separate from each parent’s parental-leave right.

Each parent has an individual right to four months of parental leave per child before the child turns eight, for birth, adoption, fostering or legal custody. Employees normally need 12 months’ continuous service with the employer, unless a shorter period is agreed. For births and adoptions from 2 August 2022, two months, expressed as eight weeks, are paid at the statutory sickness-benefit rate, rather than full salary; the remainder is unpaid. The paid entitlement is allocated by the child’s age: four weeks before age four, two weeks between four and six, and two weeks between six and eight. Paid blocks are at least two weeks. For fostering, payment is per parent rather than per foster child. Older qualifying events retain the earlier unpaid entitlement.

Some employers extend paid maternity and second-parent leave beyond the legal requirement. Betsson’s Malta policy also provides additional days for marriage and bereavement. The employer’s policy sets eligibility, salary continuation and duration; the published policy does not disclose enough detail to convert those enhancements into a standard number of weeks.

Employees receive fixed statutory cash payments in addition to ordinary wages. The statutory bonus is €135.10 at the end of June and again between 15 and 23 December. The weekly allowance is €121.16 at the end of March and again at the end of September. For a full year of full entitlement these four payments total €512.52. Partial bonus entitlement is calculated at €0.74 per calendar day, including weekends; the weekly allowance is calculated at €4.66 per working week or a proportion. Employers fund these payments. They are fixed legal payments rather than a salary-sized thirteenth month.

Performance bonuses are a common compensation practice in Malta, with individual, team or company results determining awards under the employer’s scheme. For example, a Betsson Malta customer-service role combines base salary with a bonus scheme. The employment terms set targets, measurement, discretion and payout dates. These awards are separate from Malta’s fixed statutory bonuses and the compulsory cost-of-living wage increase.

Employers can include share options or other equity incentives in an employee package. Options give an employee a right to acquire shares under stated conditions; restricted share awards normally require time or performance conditions before ownership becomes unconditional. The plan sets award size, vesting, exercise cost, leaver treatment and any sale restrictions. Tax and payroll treatment depends on the instrument and the taxable event. The employer’s plan determines the grant size.

Employees with children up to age eight and employees acting as carers have a statutory right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes. This provides a route to ask for an adjusted work pattern; it does not make every job remote or establish that an employer routinely provides a cash homeworking allowance.

Regular work away from the employer’s premises can be agreed from the start or introduced during employment. The telework agreement is written. When telework is proposed later, the employee can refuse without that refusal itself justifying dismissal or worse conditions. An employee’s request is subject to the employer’s acceptance. Teleworkers retain employment status, collective rights, appraisal standards and access to training comparable with on-site colleagues. Unless the written agreement provides otherwise, the employer provides, installs and maintains necessary equipment and technical support.

Fuel reimbursement is common in expatriate compensation packages in Malta. Employers reimburse eligible fuel or mileage, or pay a cash fuel allowance under the employment terms. The contract determines eligible costs and whether support covers business travel, commuting or private use. Personal-use tax valuation must be considered separately. This expatriate practice does not establish the same benefit for every employee in Malta.

Some employers provide workplace meals or a food allowance. A Betsson Malta customer-service role includes lunch from Monday to Friday; expatriate packages can also include food support. The benefit’s practical value depends on which shifts and locations qualify and whether the company supplies meals or pays cash. It is separate from a reimbursement for a business trip.

Some employers help with travel to work through cash transport allowances, taxi support or workplace parking. Betsson provides free parking at its main office. Expatriate packages can include taxi support, but those examples do not establish a benefit for every employee. The policy determines eligible journeys, receipts, limits and whether the support is employer-paid.

Some employers supplement homeworking with a setup or equipment allowance. For example, a Betsson Malta customer-service role includes €300 of working-from-home support. The employer’s policy determines eligible purchases, payment and reimbursement rules. Separately, statutory telework terms generally assign necessary equipment and maintenance to the employer unless the written agreement provides otherwise.

Some employers let employees adjust start and finish times or agree another flexible pattern around the job’s needs. The arrangement sets availability, coordination time and any on-site requirement while preserving working-time limits. Flexible hours are highly valued by candidates: in a 2025 survey of 500 Malta workers aged 16–64, 73.8% placed them among their top three ideal perks. That preference figure measures demand rather than the share of employers providing flexibility.

Some Malta employers combine office attendance and homeworking. A Betsson Malta customer-service role illustrates two office days and three homeworking days, while its shift roster is separately specified. Other roles and employers set their own pattern. In a 2025 survey of 500 Malta workers aged 16–64, 61.8% put remote flexibility among their three most desired perks; this is an employee preference, not an adoption rate. A written telework agreement governs regular homeworking.

Some employers fund short courses and professional development through a training budget or approved learning opportunities. The employer decides eligible courses, reimbursement requirements and time available for study. Public Malta employment guidance also protects teleworkers’ equal access to employer training. A development budget is separate from the employer’s obligation to provide any legally required job training.

Some employers help new recruits move to Malta with flights, a relocation payment and temporary accommodation. A Betsson Malta customer-service role offers that combination. The employer sets eligible costs, payment timing, dependent support and any repayment clause if employment ends early. Relocation assistance does not itself establish a right to work or replace immigration permission.

Housing can be included in an expatriate compensation or relocation package, either as an allowance or employer-arranged accommodation. A Betsson Malta customer-service role includes accommodation in its relocation support. The contract should identify the housing provided, employee costs, deposit responsibility and when support ends; the actual package determines the entitlement.

Employers provide the essential terms of employment in writing, including the parties, place and type of work, start date, fixed duration if applicable, probation, salary components, hours, overtime, leave and termination provisions. The core information is due within seven calendar days and remaining specified information within one month. Electronic terms must be capable of storage or printing. Fixed-term contracts normally last at least six months unless objective reasons justify a shorter period; successive fixed terms normally become indefinite after four years unless justified exceptions apply. If employment continues after expiry without a new contract within 12 days, indefinite status can arise.

The 2026 national minimum wage for an adult full-time employee is €229.44 a week. A sectoral Wage Regulation Order, the legal instrument setting minimum conditions for a particular industry, can require a higher rate. Part-time minimum pay is proportional to the comparable full-time rate and hours. Statutory bonuses and weekly allowances are additional entitlements. Employers must also apply the compulsory annual cost-of-living wage increase; the 2026 increase is €4.66 a week for full-time employees, proportionate for part-time work. This is an addition to basic pay rather than a discretionary performance bonus.

Night work includes normally working at least three daily hours between 10 pm and 6 am, or more than half the annual working time in that interval, subject to a lower collectively agreed proportion. A night worker’s normal hours average no more than eight in 24 over the applicable reference period, normally 17 weeks. Where a risk assessment identifies special hazards, the eight-hour limit applies within each 24-hour period and a suitable health assessment is required. Where a medical practitioner links a health condition to night work, the employer should transfer the worker to suitable daytime work if possible.

The industry’s Wage Regulation Order determines minimum overtime rates. Where no Wages Council order covers the rate, work exceeding 40 hours a week, averaged over four weeks or the shift cycle, is paid at 1.5 times normal pay. An employment package can include a stated allowance for a stated number of overtime hours, but an unspecified unlimited overtime allowance is not sufficient. Employees cannot be compelled to work overtime during pregnancy or for 12 months after a child’s birth or adoption. Overtime and working-time consent rules are separate: the ability to work longer does not remove the pay entitlement.

Normal full-time working hours are usually 40 a week, with sectoral rules governing exceptions. Including overtime, the general maximum is an average of 48 hours over 17 weeks; some sectors use a longer reference period. Working beyond that average requires the employee’s written consent and the employee cannot be penalised for refusing. Consent can be withdrawn with at least seven days’ written notice or an agreed period no longer than three months. Employees receive at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and normally 24 additional hours of weekly rest, or 48 hours within 14 days. A working day longer than six hours attracts at least a 15-minute break, which need not be paid. Rest cannot be replaced by cash.

For an indefinite contract, the normal probation period is six months, and the parties can agree a shorter period. Technical, executive, administrative or managerial employees earning at least twice the applicable minimum wage normally have one year unless a shorter period is agreed. For fixed-term employment, probation is proportional: two months for each six months of contract duration, with a six-month maximum for contracts longer than 15 months. During probation either side can generally terminate without assigning a reason, with one week’s notice after more than a month of employment. Dismissing a pregnant employee requires written reasons showing the decision is unrelated to pregnancy.

For indefinite contracts after probation, notice on resignation or redundancy follows continuous service: one week for more than one month up to six months; two weeks up to two years; four weeks up to four years; eight weeks up to seven years; nine weeks up to eight years; 10 up to nine; 11 up to 10; and 12 thereafter. Longer periods can be agreed for technical, administrative, executive or managerial roles. If the employer prevents the employee from working the notice, full wages for the remaining period are payable. If the employee chooses to stop after receiving employer notice, half the remaining notice wages are payable. Final settlement also includes outstanding wages, overtime, leave and proportional bonuses.

Employers pay a separate maternity leave fund contribution in addition to their own social security share. The 2026 contribution is normally 0.30% of basic weekly wages within the applicable percentage band, with fixed weekly amounts of €1.68 for the upper band for workers born from 1962 and €1.47 for those born earlier. The ordinary low-paid adult category attracts €0.69 a week. The employee does not pay this maternity fund levy. It helps fund the refund mechanism for employer-paid maternity and adoption leave.

Cash and non-cash employment rewards normally form part of taxable employment income unless a specific exemption applies. Employers account for them through Malta’s Final Settlement System, the payroll withholding and reporting mechanism. Payments made indirectly through third parties can still be taxable employment rewards. Company cars, housing and personal expenses require the relevant valuation rules; a cash allowance and an employer reimbursement are not automatically taxed in the same way.

For 2026, the married, one qualifying child income-tax table applies 0% up to €17,500, 15% from €17,501 to €26,500, 25% from €26,501 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €2,625, €5,275 or €11,275 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to resident married couples with one qualifying child; at least one spouse a citizen of Malta, the European Union or the European Economic Area or qualifying long-term resident, with applicable child birth/residence requirements. Qualifying children are normally not over 18, or not over 23 in full-time education. The new child-related tables have additional nationality and long-term-residence conditions; they do not automatically apply to every foreign employee with children. The couple must be resident in Malta and at least one spouse must be a citizen of Malta, another European Union country or a European Economic Area country; alternatively, at least one spouse must have qualifying Maltese long-term resident status and the child must be born in Malta and resident there. For a European Union or European Economic Area couple with one non-resident spouse, the table can apply where at least 90% of worldwide income comes from Malta and the other conditions are satisfied.

For 2026, the married, two or more qualifying children income-tax table applies 0% up to €22,500, 15% from €22,501 to €32,000, 25% from €32,001 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €3,375, €6,575 or €12,575 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to resident married couples with two or more qualifying children; nationality/long-term-residence and child conditions apply. Qualifying children are normally not over 18, or not over 23 in full-time education. The new child-related tables have additional nationality and long-term-residence conditions; they do not automatically apply to every foreign employee with children. The couple must be resident in Malta and at least one spouse must be a citizen of Malta, another European Union country or a European Economic Area country; alternatively, at least one spouse must have qualifying Maltese long-term resident status and the child must be born in Malta and resident there. For a European Union or European Economic Area couple with one non-resident spouse, the table can apply where at least 90% of worldwide income comes from Malta and the other conditions are satisfied.

For 2026, the parent, one qualifying child income-tax table applies 0% up to €14,500, 15% from €14,501 to €21,000, 25% from €21,001 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €2,175, €4,275 or €10,275 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to a resident parent with one qualifying child; claimant a citizen of Malta, the European Union or the European Economic Area or qualifying long-term resident with child birth/residence conditions. Qualifying children are normally not over 18, or not over 23 in full-time education. The new child-related tables have additional nationality and long-term-residence conditions; they do not automatically apply to every foreign employee with children. The parent must be resident in Malta and be a citizen of Malta, another European Union country or a European Economic Area country; alternatively, the parent must have qualifying Maltese long-term resident status and the child must be born in Malta and resident there. A claimant who is not the child’s parent must be married or in a civil union with the parent, or have a registered public deed of cohabitation with the parent.

For 2026, the parent, two or more qualifying children income-tax table applies 0% up to €18,500, 15% from €18,501 to €25,500, 25% from €25,501 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €2,775, €5,325 or €11,325 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to a resident parent with two or more qualifying children; nationality/long-term-residence and child conditions apply. Qualifying children are normally not over 18, or not over 23 in full-time education. The new child-related tables have additional nationality and long-term-residence conditions; they do not automatically apply to every foreign employee with children. The parent must be resident in Malta and be a citizen of Malta, another European Union country or a European Economic Area country; alternatively, the parent must have qualifying Maltese long-term resident status and the child must be born in Malta and resident there. A claimant who is not the child’s parent must be married or in a civil union with the parent, or have a registered public deed of cohabitation with the parent.

For 2026, the single resident income-tax table applies 0% up to €12,000, 15% from €12,001 to €16,000, 25% from €16,001 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €1,800, €3,400 or €9,400 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to resident individuals who do not qualify for another rate.

For 2026, the standard married resident income-tax table applies 0% up to €15,000, 15% from €15,001 to €23,000, 25% from €23,001 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €2,250, €4,550 or €10,550 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to resident married couples who do not qualify for the new child-related rates.

For 2026, the standard parent income-tax table applies 0% up to €13,000, 15% from €13,001 to €17,500, 25% from €17,501 to €60,000 and 35% above €60,000 of annual chargeable income. The tax calculation multiplies the full chargeable income by the applicable rate and subtracts €1,950, €3,700 or €9,700 respectively for the 15%, 25% and 35% bands. This table applies to qualifying resident parents who do not qualify for the new child-related rates. Qualifying children are normally not over 18, or not over 23 in full-time education. The new child-related tables have additional nationality and long-term-residence conditions; they do not automatically apply to every foreign employee with children. An unmarried, widowed, divorced or separated individual maintaining a qualifying child in sole custody may use standard married rates if more beneficial, subject to the specific statutory conditions, including the child’s own income limit where applicable.

The Key Employee Initiative offers a fast-tracked single-permit route for qualifying non-European Union nationals with a managerial or highly technical job offer. The current minimum gross salary is €45,000 a year, with relevant qualifications or adequate experience. Endorsed startup innovators can also qualify. The initial residence permit lasts one year and can be renewed for up to three years with the required contract and tax evidence. Applications require proof of a suitable local job advert running for at least two weeks within the previous two months. The published first-application fee is €600 and renewal is €150 per year. This immigration route does not replace employment benefits or create a general employer relocation allowance.