Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT) in Ireland: Accountable Persons Guide

Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT) is a tax that certain public bodies deduct from fees they pay for professional services. If you invoice a government department, a local authority or the HSE, or if you work in the finance team of one of those bodies, it affects how payments are made, reported and credited. This guide sets out what Revenue's own pages say about accountable persons, the payments caught, the filing steps and the credit available to the supplier.

It is a general explanation, not tax advice. Revenue's pages for this topic were last updated between September 2024 and November 2025, and rates, forms and filing dates can change. Check the Revenue pages on the day you act.

What PSWT is and who the "accountable person" is

Revenue's page for providers of professional services describes PSWT as tax withheld when a state or semi-state body pays for a professional service (page last updated 17 September 2024). The body that makes the payment and deducts the tax is called the accountable person. The supplier who receives the payment, less the tax, is called the specified person.

According to Revenue's page for accountable persons (last updated 17 September 2024), PSWT is generally deducted by state and semi-state bodies. The page lists:

• government departments;
• local authorities;
• the Health Service Executive (HSE);
• authorised health insurers;
• commercial and non-commercial semi-state bodies; and
• subsidiaries of those bodies, and bodies funded by any of them.

Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual Part 18-01-04 (last updated November 2025) explains the legal footing. PSWT is provided for in Chapter 1 of Part 18 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Bodies are accountable persons when they are listed in Schedule 13 of that Act, and additions are made in the annual Finance Act. The manual also says subsidiaries that are 51% or more owned, and joint ventures controlled by more than one accountable person, are accountable persons. A body that is unsure of its status is told to consult its Revenue branch.

Which payments are caught

Revenue's "What are professional services?" page (last updated 17 September 2024) lists the areas covered:

• health care services, including human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, eye care, hearing care and veterinary work;
• architecture, engineering, quantity surveying and related work;
• accounts, audit and finance;
• economic, financial, marketing and advertising services;
• legal services; and
• geological services.

The same page says PSWT also applies to expenses that the supplier claims and the accountable person pays, such as travel or third-party fees, and that where interest is paid on a professional services payment, PSWT should be deducted from the interest as well. If you want the wider picture on interest for overdue business invoices, see our guide to late payment interest on commercial transactions in Ireland. Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual (section on late payment interest) says the same: PSWT should also be deducted from the interest.

The Tax and Duty Manual adds that the legislation's list of professional services is not exhaustive, and that a service which would normally fall outside PSWT can be caught if it forms part of a wider professional services contract. The manual's appendix gives Revenue's views on specific sectors.

Payments and services Revenue says are excluded

Revenue's "Payments excluded from PSWT" page (last updated 26 November 2024) lists:

• payments to employees taxed through PAYE;
• payments where Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) applies;
• payments between accountable persons;
• payments to charities that have an Income Tax exemption;
• payments made by a foreign branch or agency of an accountable person where the service is provided abroad by a non-resident provider; and
• intra-group payments, such as between subsidiaries of the same company or from a parent to a subsidiary.

The page also says that teaching, training or lecturing, translation, proofreading, stenography, setting or assessing examinations, contract cleaning, and maintenance and repair work are generally excluded. VAT charged by the provider is excluded, as are certain government and registry fees, including stamp duty, land registry fees, deed of registration fees, company office fees and court fees.

The manual covers further detail, for example that board and committee fees are generally dealt with under PAYE and PRSI instead, and that payments to tax-exempt charities should be supported by written confirmation from the payee. The manual states that it is guidance only and not necessarily comprehensive, so ambiguous cases are best raised with Revenue.

What an accountable person has to do

Revenue's accountable persons page sets out the steps for a payment that is caught:

1. Submit a Payment Notification (PN) on the ePSWT system in the Revenue Online Service (ROS).
2. Deduct 20% from the payment, according to the page, and pay over the amount deducted.
3. Remit the deduction to Revenue monthly as part of the F30 return.

The Tax and Duty Manual says PSWT is deducted at the standard rate of income tax and, in a worked example, applies 20%. It says the F30 is due, with payment, within 23 days of the end of each income tax month, and that a nil return is needed where no PSWT was deducted. It also describes an annual F35 return, due by 23 February after the tax year ends, with any balance paid at the same time. These dates and the rate are as shown on the pages at the time of writing; Revenue can change them, so check the current pages.

PNs are built around the supplier's tax reference number. The accountable persons page says the Tax Reference Number (TRN), meaning the Income Tax or Corporation Tax registration number, is used, with a VAT number accepted in some exceptional cases and extra data required for non-resident suppliers. PNs can be entered one at a time or uploaded in batches by CSV. An accountable person can amend or delete a PN until the F35 for the period has been filed, and can generate a PN acknowledgement PDF to give to the supplier as a record of the tax deducted.

Older guidance refers to Form F45 certificates. According to the manual, since ePSWT began on 1 July 2021 accountable persons no longer issue Form F45 or the amending Form F43; the PN in ROS replaces them.

Tax clearance does not switch PSWT off

Revenue's manual says that a specified person's Tax Clearance Certificate does not remove the accountable person's obligation to deduct PSWT. For background on what a certificate is and when businesses need one, see our guide to the tax clearance certificate in Ireland. The two are separate requirements.

What suppliers should do with the tax deducted

Revenue's page for providers says you can claim the withheld tax as a credit against your Income Tax Return (Form 11) or Corporation Tax return (Form CT1) for the same tax year, entering the gross amount of tax withheld. For the PN, the page says individuals need a PPSN, registered companies a TRN, and registered partnerships the partnership's tax number. Non-residents provide the TRN for their country of residence and contact details.

Suppliers can view the PNs filed against them through the "PSWT Withheld From You" link in ROS. They can see the details but cannot amend them, and can export results to CSV or produce a PN acknowledgement PDF. The provider page also lists Form F50A (interim refund claim), Form IC11 (claim by a non-resident individual or company), a non-resident questionnaire, and a joint election form for medical partnerships covering a GP's GMS contract payments with the HSE. The manual notes that interim refunds, including in cases of particular hardship, are provided for in section 527 of the 1997 Act.

A practical approach: reconcile the PN acknowledgements against your own invoices and bank receipts during the year rather than at return time, so any mismatch can be raised with the paying body before the credit is claimed.

Practical points for Dublin finance teams

Our suggestion for both sides:

• Accountable persons: keep a short checklist that asks, for each supplier invoice, whether the service is professional, whether an exclusion applies, and whether the supplier's TRN is on file before the PN is submitted.
• Suppliers: expect the amount received to be lower than the invoice total where the service is caught, and claim the PSWT withheld as a credit on your return, as Revenue's providers page describes.
• Both: keep a note of why you treated a mixed contract as caught or not caught, because the manual says a wider professional services contract can bring other elements into scope.

Our suggestion: teams that process these payments may want to plan refresher training. Our overview of CPD training in Dublin for finance professionals is a starting point for planning that.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Who deducts PSWT?

The accountable person: Revenue's page lists government departments, local authorities, the HSE, authorised health insurers, and commercial and non-commercial semi-state bodies, together with their subsidiaries and bodies funded by them.

Is PSWT an extra charge on top of my invoice?

No. According to Revenue, it is tax withheld from the payment and the supplier can claim the amount withheld as a credit against its Income Tax or Corporation Tax liability for the same year.

Does a tax clearance certificate stop PSWT being deducted?

Revenue's manual says it does not. The accountable person must still deduct PSWT on caught payments.

Are training and teaching fees caught?

Revenue's pages say teaching, training or lecturing is generally excluded, but the manual warns that a service that is normally outside PSWT can be caught if it forms part of a wider professional services contract. Check the contract and the manual.

Do I still get an F45 certificate?

The manual says F45 and F43 forms are no longer issued since ePSWT began on 1 July 2021. Accountable persons now submit Payment Notifications in ROS.

Check the Revenue PSWT pages and the Tax and Duty Manual before you rely on any rate, form or date mentioned here.