Somebody of you age can contribute up to 30% of their net relevant earnings and obtain full tax, PRSI and health levy relief to a pension.
Whether or not this is a good idea for you depends on many factors (e.g. when you plan to retire, what level of pension savings you already have, what you plan to do with it - e.g. up to 25% tax free lump sum and the rest in an annuity or else reinvest some or all in an Approved Retirement Fund to drawing down later etc., what rate of tax you pay and what rate you are likely to pay on retirement income, what you plan to invest in - at this stage it could be a bit late for very volatile/risky investments etc.). Note that you can obtain tax, PRSI and health levy now but any eventual pension income drawn down will be assessible for tax. In my opinion the decision on whether or not you invest in a pension scheme at any stage in life should be primarily driven by your plans for retirement income and whether the plans required to realise those plans rather than solely or mainly on the basis that you get tax, PRSI and health levy relief. If in doubt get independent, professional advice perhaps from an Authorised Advisor with whom you agree a fixed fee in advance for the work. The Pensions Board and IFSRA websites also contains some useful information about pensions:
thank you for you reply, my situation is that I am looking for ways to reduce my tax liability from monies released from a property sale. i thought a pension fund might be one area to explore
Surely the money raised from a property sale is subject to CGT and any income tax relief available on pension contributions will be of no use in terms of reducing your tax liabilities? If this is not the case then perhaps you could clarify the situation and why you think that pension contributions might be relevant to your situation?