10th October 2025
What Budget 2026 means for small businesses
Last weeks Budget was a very different affair to the year before. Described as an “anti-populist Budget”, it lacked the popular giveaways of Budget 2025 and held little to benefit middle-income workers.
BrightHR highlights the key impacts for small and medium-sized businesses, and what they’ll mean:
- Minimum wage increases by €0.65 to €14.15 per hour
- VAT reduced from 13.5% to 9% for food, catering and hairdressing
- Rising costs for fuel and energy via carbon tax increases
- Minimum wage increases – what do they mean for employers?
*From 1 January 2026, national minimum wage will increase by 65 cents to €14.15 per hour
This rise in national minimum wage will increase payroll costs for employers, as well as adding to the admin burden in January, especially for employers who already have tricky shifts and rotas to sort out. You can’t afford to get wages wrong: failure to comply with the National Minimum Wage Act is a criminal offence that comes with a fine of up to €2,500.
