Budgeting App for Expats in Ireland

Ireland uses the euro and has been in the euro area since 1999¹. Opening a bank account takes proof of identity and proof of address, and if you have no account yet, a basic bank account charges no fees for everyday banking in its first year². Your PPS number is the reference for public services and benefits in Ireland, and it's printed on documents like your Tax Assessment and PAYE Notice of Tax Credits³.

Borderless Budget connects to major Irish banks including Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, and Permanent TSB through secure bank connections, and your accounts in the US, Canada, the EU, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein connect too.

Major banks for expats

• Allied Irish Banks
• Bank of Ireland
• Permanent TSB

Cash vs. card culture

Day-to-day money runs through a current account: it lets you pay bills by direct debit or standing order, receive your salary, transfer money online, and pay with a debit card or a digital wallet². In Dublin, you can pay for buses, Luas and DART by tapping a Leap Card⁴.

Ireland is one of the EU's most expensive countries: its 2025 price level for household consumption was 136% of the EU average, behind only Denmark⁸. It also has the EU's highest prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco⁹.

Because Ireland is in the euro area¹, anyone moving from another eurozone country carries no exchange rate risk on rent or salary. If you earn or save in dollars, pounds or another currency, the same euro rent costs you a different amount each month. Seeing every account in your home currency shows the real trend.

Transferring money to Ireland

• Your bank must charge the same for a euro payment to another EU country as for an equivalent domestic one, and that covers transfers, card payments and ATM withdrawals across the EU¹⁰. Moving euros from a German or Dutch account into an Irish one should cost no more than a domestic transfer.
• A company or public body that accepts SEPA payments from Irish accounts can't refuse yours because it sits in another EU country¹⁰. If an EU account already holds your euros, ask before opening a second one just for bills.
• If you earn in dollars or pounds, compare the rate your bank offers with a specialist transfer service before each conversion. The difference shows up in your rent money every month.
• Convert enough for a full month of rent and bills at once, so the rate on one bad day doesn't decide whether rent is covered.

Borderless Budget tracks all of your accounts, your home-country bank, your Irish bank, and services like Wise or Revolut, in a single dashboard. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects where things actually stand.

• You're resident in Ireland for tax purposes if you're present for 183 days or more in a tax year, or 280 days across the current and previous tax year, and the tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December¹¹.
• If you're resident and domiciled in Ireland, Ireland taxes your worldwide income, subject to any relief under a Double Taxation Agreement¹².
• In 2026 a single person has a standard rate band of €44,000 a year taxed at 20%, and income above it is taxed at 40%¹³.
• Tax credits reduce the bill: in 2026 the Single Person and Employee PAYE tax credits are €2,000 each, and the Rent Tax Credit for a single person is up to €1,000¹⁴.
• Universal Social Charge (USC) for 2026 is 0.5% on the first €12,012, 2% on the next €16,688, 3% on the next €41,344 and 8% on the balance¹⁵.
• Employees also pay PRSI (social insurance). From 1 October 2026 the Class A rate is 4.35% of all earnings for anyone earning over €352 a week, up from 4.2%¹⁶.
• Ireland has tax treaties with more than 70 countries, so income taxed in one country is not taxed again in the other¹⁷.
• The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live¹⁸, and the US and Ireland have an income tax treaty¹⁹.

1. Budget from your net pay, not your gross. The PRSI rate rose on 1 October 2026¹⁶, so check your payslip against your budget.
2. If you rent, put the Rent Tax Credit in your plans: up to €1,000 a year for a single person in 2026¹⁴.
3. Use the same pharmacy each month if you're on the Drugs Payment Scheme. Splitting prescriptions across pharmacies can take you over the €80 monthly maximum, and the excess then has to be claimed back⁷.
4. In Dublin, a Leap Card stops charging once you hit the €6 daily or €24 weekly cap⁴. Treat €24 a week as your transport ceiling if you commute every day.
5. Ask whether a flat's rent includes electricity, heating and internet, and budget for each one that it doesn't.
6. Keep your home-country bills, like subscriptions, loans and phone plans, in their own currency so you can see what Ireland actually costs you.

Connect your Irish and home-country banks

Link your Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, or other Irish bank alongside your home-country bank. Transactions from all accounts sync automatically into one dashboard.

Budget in EUR and your home currency

Your budget is set in your home currency, and Borderless Budget automatically converts every transaction, whether it's in euro or your home currency. You can toggle any transaction to see the original currency amount. Exchange rates update daily, so your budget always reflects reality.

Automatic categorization

Transactions from Irish merchants are automatically categorized. Categorization improves as you use the app, learning your patterns across both currencies, so you spend less time sorting transactions and more time living your life in Ireland.

See the impact of exchange rates

When exchange rates shift, your combined budget view updates automatically. You'll see exactly how currency movements affect your overall spending, no surprises, no guesswork.