Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) are Revenue's rules that make every Irish employer report certain tax-free payments to staff and directors in real time: travel and subsistence expenses, the remote working daily allowance and gifts under the small benefit exemption. They have applied since 1 January 2024, and Budget 2027 announced more flexible timing from 1 January 2027.
This guide explains what has to be reported, when, how to submit it and what is outside the rules. Rules are as published by Revenue and checked on 21 October 2026.
What ERR are and why they exist
Before 2024, Revenue only saw tax-free expenses and benefits when it audited an employer. ERR changed that. Under section 897C of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, introduced by Finance Act 2022, employers must now tell Revenue about these payments each time they make them.
The payments themselves stay tax-free if the normal conditions are met. ERR do not add a tax; they add a reporting step, so Revenue can match what employers pay with what employees receive.
Which payments must be reported
Revenue's guidance on what to report lists three categories, for both employees and directors:
| Payment | What you report |
|---|---|
| Small benefit exemption | The date and value of each gift or voucher |
| Remote working daily allowance (up to 3.20 euro a day) | The number of days, the amount paid and the date paid |
| Travel and subsistence | The type, the date paid and the amount of each payment |
Travel and subsistence covers eight item types: vouched travel, unvouched travel, vouched subsistence, unvouched subsistence, site-based employees, emergency travel, eating on site and advance payments.
If you give staff tax-free vouchers or Christmas gifts, our guide to the small benefit exemption explains the five gifts and 1,500 euro limits that apply before you report them.
When to report
Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual requires reporting on or before the date the payment is made to the employee. In practice, the report goes in with the expense run or before the gift is handed over, not at the end of the year.
Budget 2027 announced that, from 1 January 2027, employers can choose either to keep reporting in real time or to report by the 14th of the month after the payment. The obligation to report stays the same; only the deadline becomes more flexible.
How to submit ERR reports
Revenue offers three ways to report:
- Payroll or expenses software that connects to Revenue directly. Many payroll packages offer this.
- ROS File Upload, using an XML or JSON file, which suits employers with many claims.
- ROS Online Form, which works for a small number of payments entered by hand.
ERR reports are separate from the payroll submission. Expenses and benefits cannot be sent in the same submission as salaries. If a report is wrong, individual lines can be amended or deleted afterwards.
The duty sits with whoever reimburses the expense. If a group company pays an employee's travel claim on behalf of the employer, that company reports it.
What is outside ERR
Some payments do not need an ERR report:
- Payments taxed through payroll. If an expense or allowance is already put through PAYE as taxable pay, it is not reported again under ERR.
- Round-sum allowances. A flat allowance that is not a reimbursement of real costs is not a tax-free benefit at all. It must be taxed through PAYE.
- Company credit cards. Expenses paid directly with a company credit card are currently outside ERR.
- Employers with a PAYE Exclusion Order for the employee concerned.
These exclusions are narrow. If a payment is tax-free and falls into one of the three categories, assume it must be reported.
What changed and what comes next
ERR started on 1 January 2024. Revenue took a service-for-compliance approach until 30 June 2024, without compliance programmes or penalties, to give employers time to adapt.
The next change is the optional monthly deadline from 1 January 2027. Employers who found real-time reporting hard to manage can move to reporting by the 14th of the following month, but should keep records of every payment as before.
A simple ERR routine for small employers
- Keep one log of every tax-free payment per employee: type, date, amount and, for remote working, the number of days.
- Check each item against the three categories and the exclusions.
- Report through your payroll software or ROS before the payment, or by the 14th of the following month from 2027.
- Keep receipts and records that support each tax-free payment.
If you are setting up payroll for the first time, see what an Irish company must do before it pays its first employee. If you would rather hand over payroll and ERR reporting, our payroll service for Irish companies covers both.
FAQ
What is ERR in Revenue?
ERR stands for Enhanced Reporting Requirements. Employers must report tax-free travel and subsistence, the remote working daily allowance and small benefits to Revenue each time they pay them.
When did enhanced reporting requirements start?
On 1 January 2024. Revenue applied a soft approach without penalties until 30 June 2024.
Do directors' expenses have to be reported?
Yes. The rules apply to payments to directors as well as employees.
Is the deadline changing in 2027?
Budget 2027 announced that, from 1 January 2027, employers can report by the 14th of the month after the payment instead of in real time.
Can ERR be sent with the payroll submission?
No. Expenses and benefits are reported separately from salaries, through software, ROS File Upload or the ROS Online Form.
Do I report expenses paid with a company credit card?
Not currently. Expenses paid directly with a company credit card are outside ERR.
