File a Form 11 tax return

File your 2025 income tax return and pay what you owe on the Revenue Online Service. Pay and file on ROS by 18 November 2026 to get the extra time.

If you are self-employed or have other untaxed income, you file a Form 11 each year and work out the tax you owe. You file on the Revenue Online Service (ROS), and filing costs nothing.

Do you need to file?

You must file a Form 11 if you are a "chargeable person" under self-assessment. This usually means people with trading income and no PAYE (Pay As You Earn) job. It also covers:

• Proprietary directors, and their jointly assessed spouse or civil partner
• PAYE workers whose taxable non-PAYE income is more than €5,000 a year
• PAYE workers whose gross non-PAYE income is more than €30,000 a year, such as rent or investment income

What you need

• Your ROS login and digital certificate
• Your PPS (Personal Public Service) number
• Income from all sources for 2025, including any PAYE pay and tax already taken off
• Your business accounts: turnover, expenses and profit
• Pension contributions not already taken off by an employer
• Proof you have paid or filed your Local Property Tax (LPT)
• Receipts for credits and reliefs. Keep records for six years, but only send them if Revenue asks.

Step by step

1. Register for ROS if you have not already. Apply for your ROS Access Number (RAN), which comes by letter.
2. Apply for your digital certificate, then download and save it using the password Revenue sends you.
3. Log in to ROS and choose the 2025 Form 11. You can pick a pre-filled version.
4. Enter your income, expenses, credits and reliefs.
5. Fill in the "IT Self-Assessment" panel to calculate your tax.
6. Complete the "Statement of Net Liabilities". This shows your 2025 balance and your 2026 preliminary tax.
7. Submit the return on ROS.
8. Pay what you owe on ROS. Pay and file on ROS by 18 November 2026 to get the extension.

How much it costs and how long it takes

By the deadline you must do three things. File your 2025 return, pay any 2025 tax still due, and pay preliminary tax for 2026. Preliminary tax is an advance payment on this year's bill.

Revenue also charges interest for each day a payment is late. In your first year, you can pay 100% of last year's tax as preliminary tax, which is usually nothing.

Common mistakes

• Filing on ROS but paying another way. You then lose the extension, and the deadline is 31 October.
• Leaving ROS registration to the last week. The access number comes by post.
• Forgetting your Local Property Tax. If it is not paid or agreed, a 10% surcharge can apply even when your return is on time.
• Missing 2026 preliminary tax. It is due on the same day as your 2025 balance.
• Using myAccount. ROS is for the self-employed and businesses; myAccount is for PAYE workers.

Related guides

• How to register as self-employed
• How to pay your Local Property Tax
• How to claim remote working relief
• How to register for VAT
• How to get a tax clearance certificate