From tax cuts to welfare boosts – what we know about Budget 2027

Budget 2027 is set to centre around workers, with a series of tax cuts and some welfare boosts expected to be outlined on the 6th of October. 

Speaking in a pre-Budget speech to small business owners on Monday, the Tánaiste pledged: ‘If you work hard, you should be able to get ahead, not just get by.’

This is set to be echoed throughout the budget, which will reward those who ‘get up early every morning and go to work’.

‘If you put in the overtime, you should see the reward,’ Simon Harris explained.

Welfare Boosts

With think-tanks, advisory bodies and charities across the country calling for welfare boosts, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has also identified the key groups which will be targeted in Budget 2027. 

The Fianna Fáil TD explained that ‘low middle-income’ earners were the top group that would be the focus of this year’s changes. 

He later added that those with children would be prioritised as affordability of childcare remains an essential element the Government wants to focus on. 

‘It’s something that I think gives a hard-working family something back in a budgetary context,’ he told Claire Byrne on Newstalk last month. 

‘I think we will have the space in 2027 to make a move on childcare that people will see the difference on Budget Day,’ he continued. 

Tax Packages

Harris has been clear that a key priority for him in the upcoming budget is a special income tax package for struggling families.

‘If you work hard to progress in your career. You should see the benefit. I want hard work to pay,’ he explained on Monday. 

This was seemingly confirmed by The Summer Economic Statement earlier this year, which claimed there would be a total tax package of 1.5 billion euros in new measures included on October 6. 

Speaking to reporters at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Offaly, Mr Chambers told reporters that a ‘modest’ tax package would amount to ‘a few hundred euros’ back in workers’ pockets, according to Dublin Live. 

He later stressed that the Budget would aim to alleviate any sort of tax burden on Irish workers in a way that was both progressive and sustainable. 

Stamp Duty 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also yet to rule out scrapping stamp duty for first-time buyers, claiming that it’s a ‘reasonable proposal’. 

Stamp duty currently means buyers are expected to pay 1% of a home’s value, sometimes being described as a blockade to young people getting on the property ladder. 

Speaking at the think-in in Tullamore, the Taoiseach revealed that he had a ‘favourable disposition’ to getting rid of stamp duty as a means of assisting first-time buyers.

Source: Adam Van Eekeren, MSN, 9th of September 2026.