Emergency Tax

What is Emergency Tax, when is it applied and how can you get a refund?

Emergency tax is the higher rate tax basis that your employer must apply to your earnings when it is not clear what tax band you should be in.

When is Emergency Tax applied?

You will be placed on Emergency Tax when:

1. You haven’t given your employer your PPSN
2. If your leave date has not been submitted to Revenue

Emergency Tax will be applied if any of the above 2 situations are true, however, different Tax rules apply depending on whether you have provided a PPSN or not. If you provide a PPSN “normal Emergency Tax rules” apply.

Normal emergency tax rules

Under the normal emergency tax rules (if you have given your Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) to your employer), you get a tax credit and a rate band for your first weeks of employment. These are based on the Single Person Tax Credit and rate band for the tax year (whether you are single, married or in a civil partnership).

Your income is taxed at the standard rate until Week 8 (inclusive), and then it is taxed at the higher rate.

Here is a link to a PDF outlining Emergency Tax Rates & USC Rates.

What happens if you do not provide your employer with a PPS Number?

Your employer will tax you as if it were week 9 under normal emergency tax rules. You will be taxed this way until you provide your PPSN.

How to claim a Tax refund?

To claim emergency tax back, you will need to provide your employer with your PPSN. They will then request an RPN for you from Revenue and once processed your employer will refund any tax and USC (Universal Social Charge) that you may have overpaid in your next payment. This will only apply if Revenue issue you with a normal cumulative RPN and not a Week 1 RPN.

You can also register your new employment through your myAccount on Revenue’s website: click here. If you don’t have a myAccount, click here to register.

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