Maximise tax relief

The Law Society Retirement Trust Scheme was established in 1975 and designed for Law Society members who are under 75, self-employed, in partnership or in non-pensionable employment, to save for their retirement in a flexible and tax-efficient way. You can benefit from tax relief on contributions to the scheme to reduce your tax liability and the earlier you get started the more you can save. The pay and file deadline for income tax returns is 31 October or 14 November 2024 for online returns.

Benefits of the Law Society Scheme

Administered by Mercer, the scheme offers benefits including:

• regular once-off payments;

• flexibility to start, stop or resume anytime,

• income tax relief on your pension contributions (subject to Revenue limits);

• tax-free investment growth;

• online account access to view and make changes to your investments;

• strong governance by Irish Pensions Trust Limited; and

• oversight by Law Society members (the Solicitors Retirement Fund Committee).

It’s never too early to begin

Sarah McNulty, Solicitor and Younger Members Committee member recommends starting early. 

“As a young solicitor, end of career considerations are not often to the forefront of the mind. My advice is to bite the bullet, sign up to a scheme, choose a contribution amount that you can manage and mentally write off / accept the deduction in your payslip bottom line. You’ll be glad of it in in a year’s time, and each year after that, when you see the balance growing.” 

How to join

To get started, contact the scheme administrator at Mercer at JustASK@mercer.com or call 01 411 8505.  

• View more information on the Retirement Trust Scheme
• Contact solicitorservices@lawsociety.ie