Irish Business and Accounting Outlook for 2026

Ireland’s economy and business landscape is becoming increasingly sophisticated while retaining high levels of complexity. For example, adopting emerging AI technologies is often viewed as a business imperative, geopolitics remains in a state of uncertainty, and many businesses must now get to grips with additional regulatory requirements. In our Irish business and accounting outlook 2026, we look at the main drivers and changes that will define the next 12 months for Irish businesses, large and small.

 

AI and Digital Transformation

Businesses will continue to explore ways of using AI technologies in the coming year. There is also likely to be a shift in approach to AI technologies, as there is now a greater understanding of what AI can do and what it can’t. That shift will largely be around augmenting, speeding up, and improving the work of employees rather than replacing them.

This applies across a wide range of business areas, including accounting. In accounting, for example, all of the big software providers now offer AI tools that help businesses with repetitive and previously manual tasks, freeing up resources to focus on optimization and improvement.

 

Geopolitics and Other External Influences

Like in many countries, Irish businesses have been buffeted by geopolitics and other external influences over recent years. Wars, tariffs, and geopolitical positioning are often the first buffeting influences that come to mind. But there are others as well.

Cybersecurity is one. Take the cyber attack on the British company Jaguar Land Rover. The impact of that attack extended deep into the supply chain, putting many of Jaguar Land Rover’s suppliers under severe operational and financial strain. Those suppliers were not hacked, but the impact of the incident was significant on their businesses.

Another example is the outages at some of the world’s major cloud service providers during 2025. Without a contingency plan, any business that relies heavily on one of those providers would grind to a halt until the cloud service was restored if (when) similar outages are repeated in 2026.

That brings us to the main point – contingency planning, business resilience, and operational agility. As there are few indications that any of this will change in 2026, businesses should focus on establishing contingency strategies, optimising business resilience, and taking steps to make their businesses as agile as possible.

 

Skills Shortages

There remain many parts of the Irish economy where there is a shortage of skills. There are government-backed and industry-led initiatives aimed at resolving these issues, but those initiatives are mostly medium- and long-term. As a result, companies with immediate talent acquisition challenges throughout 2026 will need to continue working on innovative approaches to recruit the skills they need.

 

Ireland’s Pension Auto-Enrolment Scheme

The My Future Fund pension auto-enrolment scheme starts in January 2026. Employers are required to manage the scheme on behalf of their employees. Employers also have to pay a contribution alongside employees. So, in addition to the administrative implications, pension auto-enrolment also has a financial dimension for businesses.

To qualify for auto-enrolment, employees must earn over €20,000 and be between the ages of 23 and 60.

 

VAT, CGT, and the Minimum Wage

• New VAT rates – the VAT rate for hospitality is reducing from 13.5% to 9% from July 2026. The same rate reduction applies to hairdressers. The sale of new-build apartments will also incur a 9% VAT rate, down from the previous rate of 13.5%.
• Capital gains tax (CGT) – lifetime CGT Entrepreneur Relief is going up to €1.5m from 1 January 2026. This means entrepreneurs disposing of assets that qualify for the relief will pay the lower 10% CGT rate on gains up to €1.5m.
• Minimum wage – the minimum wage increases to €14.15 per hour from January 2026.

Conclusion

For many businesses, 2026 is a year of transition. While new compliance mandates, external influences, and rising costs present hurdles, the underlying strength of the Irish economy offers a solid foundation for growth. By focusing on critical areas such as compliance, talent retention, business resilience, and digital integration, businesses across Ireland can ensure they are not just reacting to the market but actively leading it into the future.