Paying Employee Tax in Ireland

New employers in, or coming to, Ireland can naturally experience difficulty and confusion around their payroll obligations. Getting to grips with any new set of regulations and processes can be daunting. One common query that we receive, primarily from international employers, relates to how employee taxes are paid in Ireland. The below article is intended to give employers, accountants, HR, payroll professionals, etc. an overview of how employers can pay employee tax in Ireland.

In Ireland, employers must deduct Universal Social Charge (USC), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) and, if applicable, Local Property Tax (LPT) from their employee’s salary / wages. The value of all deducted taxes must be submitted to Revenue, specifically the Collector General. If an employer’s yearly USC, PAYE and PRSI total is €28,800 or less, payments can be made quarterly, upon approval from the Collector General.

The Collector General is the division in Revenue that’s responsible for the collection of employee taxes in addition to many other taxes, such as: Value Added Tax (VAT), Corporation Tax, Professional Services Witholding Tax, Relevant Contracts Tax, Capital Gains Tax and many more. The Collector General’s contact details can be found here.

What employers must include in their monthly / quarterly payments

On a monthly or quarterly basis, employer’s payments to the Collector General should include:

• All employee taxes (less tax refunds)
• PRSI contributions (both employee and employer contributions)
• Monthly P30 return

Related article: How to Calculate Income Tax.

How can employers pay employee tax

Employers can pay their employee taxes online or by bank giro. Online tax payments can be made through Revenue Online Service (ROS). If an employer does not use ROS, they can complete the bank giro attached to their Form P30 that Revenue issues each month / quarter.

Employer deadline for paying tax on behalf of employees

Employers must pay their employee taxes to the Collector General within 2 weeks (or 23 days if using ROS) after the end of each month. If a late payment of employee tax occurs, the employer is charged interest which is currently calculated at 0.0274% (on the total tax) per day of late payment.

An easier way for employers to pay employee taxes

Here at Paycheck Plus we can completely manage the payment of your employee taxes. Our payroll specialists can make the necessary calculations, deductions and returns on your behalf, freeing up your time to focus more on profits rather than paperwork. We ensure accurate, compliant and on-time delivery of our payroll services.

For more on Irish Payroll Read:

Paycheck Plus, Your Outsourced Payroll Provider

Paycheck Plus understand that payroll is a complex and time-consuming operation. Keeping up to date with ever evolving legislative changes, ensuring payroll compliance and delivering employee wages accurately and on time takes its toll on a business’ senior resources. As Ireland’s most highly accredited payroll provider, we have been providing outstanding payroll outsourcing services to each of our client’s needs for nearly twenty years. Our award-winning team of payroll experts specialise in all aspects of payroll, including payroll consultancy, payroll audits, payroll reporting, payroll training while our employee assist helpline and online payslip portal can address your employee’s queries and needs.

To ensure payroll accuracy or for more information on our Irish payroll service simply request a callback now or call our payroll bureau on (0)1 905 9400. Alternatively, request a payroll quote here.