Emergency tax in Ireland: why it happens and how to get it back

What emergency tax is

Every Irish employer runs payroll using a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) for each employee. The RPN tells the employer your tax credits, your 20% rate band and your USC bands. When there is no RPN for you, for example because this is your first job in Ireland and you have not registered it with Revenue yet, the law requires the employer to use the emergency basis instead. It is not a penalty, and it does not mean you owe anything.

How much is deducted

On the emergency basis you get no tax credits at all. How much of your pay is taxed at 20% depends on whether your employer has your PPSN:

On top of that, USC is charged at a flat 8% on all your pay instead of the normal bands. Any other pay frequency, such as quarterly, is taxed entirely at 40%. The periods are counted from your first payment, and if you give your PPSN late, the 20% part only applies to whichever of those first periods are left. Emergency tax only changes income tax and USC; PRSI is worked out separately under your PRSI class.

Example: €48,000 a year, paid monthly

Monthly gross pay is €4,000.00.

• First payslip on emergency tax: €866.67 income tax and €320.00 USC, compared with €614.40 with your RPN, so €572.26 too much.
• Second payslip: everything is now taxed at 40%, so €1,600.00 income tax plus €320.00 USC, €1,305.60 too much.
• Without a PPSN, the first two payslips would lose €2,611.20 too much between them.

Why it happens

Your employer has to use emergency tax when it cannot get an RPN for you. That usually happens because:

• you have not given your employer your PPS number (PPSN);
• this is your first job in Ireland and you have not registered it with Revenue. Only you can register a first job, so until you do, Revenue answers your employer's request with "No RPN found".

Employers must request the latest RPN before every payroll run, and payroll software does this automatically.

How to get off emergency tax

1. Get a PPSN if you do not have one: book through MyWelfare with a basic MyGovID account and attend an appointment with proof of identity, proof of address and the reason you need it, such as a new job. Give the number to your employer as soon as it arrives.
2. Register for Revenue myAccount with your PPSN.
3. Register your first job: in myAccount go to PAYE Services, Add Job or Pension details, and add the job. You need your employer's tax registration number, your start date and how often you are paid, and you are asked about your residence status and expected income for the year. Later jobs are registered by the employer, so you only do this once.
4. Tell your employer you have done it, so payroll retrieves your RPN before the next pay run.

How you get the money back

Usually you do not need to do anything. When your employer receives an RPN on the normal cumulative basis, it recalculates your income tax and USC from 1 January using your tax credits and rate band, and refunds the overpayment through payroll on your next payday. If you arrived during the year and are resident, you get the full year's credits and rate band, so the first correct payslip can show a large refund or very little tax.

Emergency tax and week 1 basis are not the same

On a week 1 basis you do get your tax credits and rate band, but only one week's or one month's share each payday, and nothing is carried back to 1 January. Your take-home pay is normal from then on, but tax overpaid earlier in the year, including emergency tax, is not refunded through payroll. Week 1 applies to USC as well as income tax. If you are still on a week 1 basis at the end of the year, file an Income Tax Return to settle the year.

How to check your tax

• Your tax credit certificate appears in myAccount under My Documents, usually within two working days of registering the job. It shows the tax credits and rate band Revenue has given you.
• What your employer reported: in myAccount, Manage your tax, view the job and then each payroll submission. It is updated overnight after each payday.
• What it should be: compare the income tax and USC on your payslip with the Ireland calculator.

If you leave the job or the year ends first

• You start another job in Ireland: the new employer refunds the overpayment once it receives a cumulative RPN for you.
• You are out of work: use Claim unemployment repayment in myAccount, under PAYE Services. If emergency tax was applied in your last job you can claim straight away; otherwise after four weeks out of work, or eight if you have other taxable income such as Jobseeker's Benefit.
• You are leaving Ireland for good: you can claim straight away.
• The year has ended: in myAccount, Review your tax for the previous 4 years, request a Statement of Liability and complete the Income Tax Return. That is the only way to get a refund for a past year, and you have four years: 2026 tax can be claimed until 31 December 2030.

Sources

• Revenue: emergency tax rules
• Revenue: emergency tax rates and cut-off points
• Revenue: getting off emergency tax
• Revenue: getting a refund of emergency tax
• Revenue: cumulative and week 1 basis
• Revenue: claiming a refund if you are unemployed
• Revenue: viewing your pay and tax details
• Revenue: Revenue Payroll Notifications (employers)
• Revenue Tax and Duty Manual 42-04-35A: emergency basis
• S.I. 345/2018: Income Tax (Employments) Regulations, regulation 19
• Revenue: USC exemption
• Revenue: add a job or pension in myAccount
• gov.ie: get a PPS number

Frequently asked questions

This guide explains the general rules for employees and is not personal tax advice. Rules change and individual situations differ, so check with the tax authority or a tax adviser before making decisions. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected].