110 grants and tax reliefs available across Northern Ireland, from national UK-wide schemes to your local council's own schemes.
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Capital and revenue grants for small local micro-businesses across Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon to invest in equipment, marketing, or other eligible costs, run annually through the council's own Funding Hub portal.
Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's own workplace support scheme for disabled people and those with a long-term health condition, run separately from the Great Britain Access to Work scheme but with broadly similar aims and support types.
InterTradeIreland
Cross-border sales growth support for Northern Ireland (and Republic of Ireland) SMEs, funding towards a dedicated sales resource or consultancy support to grow cross-border sales across the island of Ireland — up to £17,250 (€21,562), covering up to 50% of eligible costs, e.g. towards the salary of a part-time sales resource for 6–12 months (up to £9,200/€11,500).
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Grants of up to £3,000 for community and voluntary organisations in Lisburn and Castlereagh to run projects that ease financial pressure, strengthen community resilience, and promote resource sharing, funded as part of the council's DEA Local Investment Plan 2026–27.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets a business deduct the full cost of qualifying plant and machinery — up to £1 million a year — from taxable profits in the year it's bought, rather than spreading the relief out over several years. Available to sole traders, partnerships, and companies alike, though some rules apply where connected businesses share the same allowance.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Tax-free weekly benefit for people who have reached State Pension age and need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental disability or illness, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
HM Revenue & Customs
Corporation Tax expenditure credit for UK film, high-end TV, children's TV, and animation production costs, replacing the separate Film Tax Relief, High-End TV Tax Relief, Animation Tax Relief, and Children's TV Tax Relief for new productions. Since 1 April 2025, qualifying independent films with budgets up to £15 million can opt in to an enhanced rate — the Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) — worth 53% rather than the standard 34%.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A tax-free lump sum followed by up to 18 further monthly payments for people whose husband, wife, or civil partner has died, replacing the older Widowed Parent's Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and Bereavement Payment. Paid regardless of your own income or savings, based on your late partner's National Insurance record.
HM Revenue & Customs
Adds an extra £3,250 tax-free (2026/27) on top of your standard Personal Allowance if you're registered blind or severely sight impaired. Registration routes differ slightly by nation — England and Wales use blind or severely sight impaired registration, while Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own separate registration processes — but the allowance itself is claimed the same way, by telling HMRC directly.
Local councils (England, Scotland, Wales); Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)
UK-wide disabled parking permit scheme letting badge holders park closer to their destination, including in restricted on-street bays and some pay-and-display bays for free. Not a cash payment, but a real, practical, and widely-used entitlement.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council
Small rolling grants for community and voluntary organisations in Causeway Coast and Glens delivering good relations and community-cohesion activities, one of several small grant streams on the council's annual Open Grant Programmes hub.
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Borough-wide grants helping local businesses and property owners in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon repaint shopfronts and signage or repair external stonework and brickwork, funded from a £70,000 scheme pot.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax relief for employees who have to buy more substantial or expensive equipment for their job than the 'small tools' covered by the flat-rate uniform/tools expense — claimed as a capital allowance on the cost rather than a flat rate.
HM Revenue & Customs
The amount of profit you can make from selling assets like shares or property each year before Capital Gains Tax is due — currently £3,000 for individuals and £1,500 for most trusts. Like the Dividend Allowance, this has shrunk considerably in recent years, down from £12,300 in 2022/23, so gains that would once have been tax-free may now trigger a bill.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
The main benefit for unpaid carers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP, DLA, or Attendance Allowance. Pays £86.45 a week (2026/27 rate) provided your own net earnings stay under the weekly threshold — going even £1 over loses the whole week's award. Receiving it can reduce the disabled person's own means-tested benefits via the 'severe disability premium', so it's worth checking that interaction before claiming.
HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Work and Pensions
A National Insurance credit (not a cash payment) for carers who provide 20+ hours/week of care but don't qualify for, or don't want to claim, Carer's Allowance — protects your State Pension record from gaps caused by caring.
Mid Ulster District Council
Mid Ulster District Council's main community and voluntary-sector funding programme, spanning three-year cycle grants for ongoing community activity, strategic events and Irish language activity, plus annual capital/feasibility grants and small rolling bursaries.
Full Fibre Northern Ireland (FFNI) Consortium — led by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, delivered by all 11 NI councils, supported by Invest NI
Grants for Northern Ireland small and micro businesses and social enterprises to adopt advanced digital technologies — AI, AR/VR and other immersive technologies, IoT, robotics, big data, blockchain, and systems integration — covering £5,000–£20,000 per project at up to 70% of eligible costs. Delivered jointly by all 11 Northern Ireland councils under the Full Fibre Northern Ireland Consortium rather than by any single council, so it is modelled here as one Northern Ireland-wide entry rather than duplicated across council-specific listings.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Tax-free benefit for children under 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who need more looking after or have more difficulty getting around than a child of the same age without a disability or long-term health condition. Claimed by a parent or guardian on the child's behalf.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland's mandatory adaptations grant, administered by the Housing Executive rather than a council. On a low income you can get grant aid up to £35,000, and in some cases the Housing Executive can increase the award to a maximum of £70,000 — noticeably higher than the caps in England (£30,000) and Wales (£36,000). The work has to be recommended by an occupational therapist, and the route in is your local Health and Social Care Trust rather than the Housing Executive directly. It is means-tested, with a calculation deciding whether you contribute towards the cost.
Land & Property Services (LPS), Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's equivalent of the Council Tax Disabled Band Reduction Scheme: a 25% reduction in domestic rates for a household specially adapted or with additional features to accommodate a resident's disability. NI has no Council Tax — it uses a separate rates system, hence a structurally different (but functionally similar) scheme.
Student Finance England / SLC (England); Student Awards Agency Scotland — SAAS (Scotland); Student Finance Wales (Wales); Student Finance NI (Northern Ireland)
Extra, non-repayable funding on top of standard student finance for students with a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia, ADHD) that affects their ability to study. Covers specialist equipment (e.g. a computer needed because of the disability), non-medical helpers (note-takers, British Sign Language interpreters, study-skills tutors), extra travel costs where public transport isn't accessible, and other disability-related study costs — but not costs a student would have anyway regardless of their course. The same DSA name and mechanism operates across all four UK nations, but is administered separately with different rate caps by each nation's student finance body.
Local councils (Scotland and Wales); Northern Ireland Housing Executive (Northern Ireland)
Extra, discretionary help towards housing costs for renters already getting Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element — used for shortfalls caused by the bedroom tax or benefit cap, for rent that exceeds the Local Housing Allowance, and for one-off costs like a tenancy deposit, rent in advance, or removal expenses. There is no fixed amount: each award is judged case by case against your circumstances and the administering body's budget, and payments are usually time-limited. In England the statutory scheme was abolished on 1 April 2026 and absorbed into the Crisis and Resilience Fund's Housing Payment strand, so English applicants should look for that instead (often still signposted locally under the old DHP name).
Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's national statutory crisis and hardship scheme, equivalent to England's Crisis and Resilience Fund, Scotland's Scottish Welfare Fund and Wales's Discretionary Assistance Fund — but administered directly by the Department for Communities rather than by local councils, since NI's district councils don't run welfare/crisis-support functions the way English/Scottish/Welsh councils do. It helps with short-term living expenses (e.g. buying food), buying, repairing or replacing basic household items (e.g. a cooker), limited travel expenses, and rent payable in advance to a private landlord (not the Northern Ireland Housing Executive). Support is awarded case-by-case as either an interest-free loan or a non-repayable grant depending on circumstances, rather than a fixed published amount.