IG urges Government to change course on Personal Investment Account or risk serving investors a ‘dog’s dinner’

• IG believes UK-style ISA model would serve investors far better than currently proposed PIA
• 1% ‘wealth tax’ on the account could cost long term investors tens of thousands in lost returns

Dublin, 2026 - Investing and trading platform IG is urging Government not to make a ‘dog’s dinner’ of its proposed Personal Investment Account (PIA), staging a tongue-in-cheek ‘dog’s dinner’ protest outside Government Buildings this week to drive home its concerns ahead of Budget 2027.

IG supports the Government’s objective of encouraging more Irish households to invest their savings, as opposed to leaving them in low-interest savings accounts earning little to no returns.

But the company has deep concerns around the proposed model for the PIA which, as signalled by the government, will draw on the least attractive elements of the Swedish ISK and UK ISA models.

By combining Sweden’s annual tax on the value of the account and the UK’s cap on what can be paid into it, the result will be the worst of both worlds - a complex investment tax regime and decidedly not the simplified model initially proposed by the Government.

Central to IG’s concern is the proposed annual 1% charge above a certain threshold yet to be defined, which taxes investors on what they own rather than what they make. It is effectively a wealth tax which is due regardless of whether the portfolio rises or falls. It punishes cautious investors more, and compounds into a significant drag on returns over time.

Illustrative analysis by IG shows that someone investing €10,000 euros a year for 30 years at an average annual return of 7% would end up more than €150,000 worse off under a 1% annual charge on holdings above €25,000, similar to the threshold in Sweden.*

IG is calling on the Government to change course and adopt the proven elements of the UK’s stocks and shares ISA account -  such as a meaningful annual tax-free allowance - with all income and gains in the account deemed free of tax, and a single simplified Capital Gains Tax rate applied to investments outside it. IG’s own research has shown Irish investors would prefer this system over the Swedish-style account proposed by the Government by over two to one.

Michael Healy, CEO of IG Consumer, said: “The PIA as initially proposed by the Government was meant to offer a simplified, tax-efficient account in which Irish savers could invest some of the €175 billion currently sitting in deposit accounts earning little or no interest. 

“Instead, the Government looks set to serve up a dog’s dinner with a complex account and stealth wealth tax that applies even in loss-making years and punishes the cautious investors it claims it wants to help. If we want Ireland to embrace investing, we should adopt a simple, transparent and predictable system such as the UK’s stocks and shares ISA.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

*Figures are illustrative, assume contributions at the start of each year and a 1% annual charge on the account value above €25,000, and exclude platform fees. The rate and threshold have not been confirmed by Government.

For any press enquiries, please contact:

Sodali & Co: igireland@client.sodali.com

About IG Group

IG Group (LSEG: IGG) provides online trading platforms and educational resources to empower ambitious clients around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, IG Group is a FTSE 100 company that offers clients access to c.19,000 financial markets worldwide.

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