RSU & ESPP Tax in Ireland: The Complete Guide for Tech Employees
I worked in tech sales for 18 years, eleven of them at Salesforce.
For most of that time my shares were a mess.
I held my ESPP shares too long. I had a third of my net worth sitting in one company's stock. I didn't really understand what I'd already been taxed on and what I hadn't.
I earned well and still felt exposed.
If you work at a tech company in Ireland and you get RSUs or an ESPP, this guide is the thing I wish someone had handed me on day one. No jargon. No product to sell you. Just how the tax actually works, where people lose money, and what I do with my own shares.
The one rule that matters most
Your RSUs and your ESPP discount are already taxed as income before you decide anything.
That single fact changes how you should think about the whole thing. You are not "investing" when you let vested shares sit there. You are making a fresh choice, every day, to keep a concentrated bet on your employer with money you've already paid tax on.
Most people never see it as a choice. They just hold. That's the expensive part.
How RSUs are taxed in Ireland
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) are taxed in two separate moments.
At vesting. The market value of the shares on the day they vest is treated as salary. You pay Income Tax, USC and PRSI on it, and your employer takes that through payroll, the same as your normal pay. So by the time the shares land in your account, the tax on them is already gone.
When you sell. If you keep the shares and they grow, that growth is a capital gain. You pay Capital Gains Tax at 33% on the gain above what the shares were worth at vesting. You get a 1,270 euro annual exemption first. And this is the part that catches people: you have to report the sale to Revenue yourself. Your employer does not do it for you, and you have to file even if no tax is due.
The deeper version is here: How are RSUs taxed in Ireland?
How ESPPs are taxed in Ireland
An ESPP (Employee Share Purchase Plan) lets you buy company shares through payroll, usually at a discount of up to 15%.
Since 1 January 2024, that discount is taxed at source through payroll, the same way RSUs are. So Income Tax, USC and PRSI come off the discount on the day the shares are bought for you. You no longer file the old RTSO1 form for it.
Then, exactly like RSUs, any growth after that is a capital gain at 33% when you sell, with the same 1,270 euro exemption and the same do-it-yourself reporting.
The full walkthrough, with my own eleven-year ESPP record, is here: ESPP in Ireland explained.
The mistake that costs the most
Here is what I did wrong, and what I see most weeks.
I took my ESPP discount for eleven years. Twenty purchase periods. The share price went up in eighteen of those twenty, so my real discount regularly beat the headline 15%. In 2023 alone the after-tax value of that discount was about 11,000 euro.
That part I got right.
What I got wrong was holding the shares. Period after period, they piled up, until a third of everything I owned was tied to the company that also paid my salary, my bonus and my pension. One company carrying my income and my savings at the same time.
If Salesforce had stumbled, my job and my net worth would have taken the hit together.
I looked at the numbers across my own clients to check whether holding was ever the smart bet. I've worked with clients across 68 companies; 25 are public. Over one five-year window the S&P 500 was up 96%. Only 9 of those 25 companies beat it. Sixteen lost to a simple index fund. The biggest winner was a company I'd never heard of. The biggest loser was Zoom, down 73%, a company everyone knew.
You cannot pick tomorrow's winner. I couldn't, and I worked there.
What I actually do with my shares
In the last five years I sold my shares on the day I received them. Every time.
Then I reinvested the proceeds into a fund that tracks the entire stock market. Not because I dislike my old company. Because I refuse to bet my financial freedom on a single stock when I've already been paid in it.
My simple order of operations for a tech employee in Ireland:
- Max your pension first. It is the most powerful tool most tech employees already have and ignore. Growth inside an Irish pension rolls up with no CGT and no exit tax. My own pension grew by roughly 150,000 euro in under two years after I left Salesforce, with no new contributions, completely tax-free. Higher-rate tax relief means 100 euro in can cost you about 60 euro.
- Sell vested RSUs and ESPP shares as they land. The tax on them is already paid. Holding is a new, concentrated bet, not a free ride.
- Reinvest into a low-cost global index fund. Buy the entire market. Boring on purpose.
- Then think about ETF exit tax. Irish fund tax has its own quirks (the 38% exit tax and the eight-year deemed disposal rule). That is a separate topic and I cover it elsewhere.
Should you ever hold? Sometimes, for specific reasons. I walk through when holding can make sense here: Should I sell my RSUs when they vest?
A quick word on tax deadlines
For Capital Gains Tax when you sell:
- Sold between 1 January and 30 November: pay the CGT by 15 December that same year.
- Sold in December: pay by 31 January the following year.
- File your CGT return by 31 October of the year after the sale, even if you owe nothing.
Miss these and Revenue charges interest and penalties on top. This is the admin nobody warns tech workers about, because your payroll handles the income-tax side and then goes quiet on the rest.
Where people go wrong (and what to do instead)
Three patterns I see again and again:
- "I'll hold and let it grow." You're holding a concentrated single stock with already-taxed money, next to the same employer who pays you. Diversify instead.
- "My employer handles my taxes." They handle the income tax at vesting. The capital-gains side, the reporting, the deadlines, all yours.
- "I'll sort it later." Later is where the deemed-disposal clock, the missed pension relief and the unreported gains quietly compound against you.
This is general information, not personal advice
Everyone's situation is different. The figures above are the rules as they stand and my own approach, not a recommendation for your specific case. If you want a second pair of eyes on your shares, your pension and your tax, that's exactly what I do.
I'm Sjoerd Bak, a qualified financial adviser. I don't sell products and I don't earn commission. I charge for my time, and I help tech professionals in Ireland turn a good salary into actual financial freedom.
If you want to walk through your own numbers, book a free intro call here: Book a free intro call.
Frequently asked questions
Are RSUs taxed twice in Ireland?
No. RSUs are taxed as income at vesting, then any further growth is taxed as a capital gain when you sell. Those are two different events on two different amounts, not double tax on the same money.
Do I pay tax if I never sell my RSUs?
Yes. The income-tax charge happens at vesting whether or not you sell. You only avoid the separate capital-gains charge by not having a gain when you eventually sell.
Is my ESPP discount taxed in Ireland?
Yes. Since 1 January 2024 the discount is taxed as income through payroll on the day the shares are purchased for you, the same as RSUs.
What is the CGT rate on selling company shares in Ireland?
33% on the gain above the value at vesting (for RSUs) or purchase (for ESPP), after a 1,270 euro annual exemption. You report and pay it yourself.
Should I sell my RSUs as soon as they vest?
For most people, selling on the day they vest and reinvesting into a diversified global index fund removes single-company risk on money that is already taxed. There are exceptions, which I cover in the dedicated guide.
Get the free RSU & ESPP playbook
Want the checklist version you can work from? I'll send you my RSU & ESPP playbook: the exact steps I use with clients to take the discount, sell on the day the shares land, and reinvest into the whole market. You'll get my Saturday newsletter too.