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How to avoid Emergency or incorrect Tax

Emergency Tax / USC

University of Galway are obliged to operate emergency TAX and USC on an employee's income where we have not received a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) for an individual. An RPN provides an employer with the necessary information to deduct from the employee the correct:

Income Tax
USC
LPT

Further information on emergency tax and how it's calculated on your pay can be found on the Revenue Website‌.

Notifying Revenue of your new employment with NUI Galway

The payroll office are obliged to register new employees with Revenue, in all circumstances except where it is the employees members first employment in the State. It is important that the correct steps are followed by employees for whichever of the 3 options below is applicable for your circumstances.

1. Starting your first job in Ireland

When you start working for the first time in the Republic of Ireland, you must register yourself with Revenue as soon as possible. This is to avoid paying emergency tax. You must do this even if it is a part-time or temporary job.

Please ensure that you register with Revenue as soon as possible as it's mandatory to register with the Irish Revenue when you work in Ireland. If you register after receiving payments from the University then please ensure that Revenue update your University employment correctly. Review the section After Tax & USC Details Updated on Payroll below to ensure your tax details on your payroll record has updated as expected.

To do this, you must:

Apply for your Personal Public Service Number (PPSN), if you do not already have one. This is available from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
Register for myAccount with Revenue in order to activate your account.
When your myAccount with Revenue is activated, you must Register your First Employment (click on this link for the Universities employer registered number) in Ireland by providing the University's employer registered number.

2. Changing Employers

If you are changing employers within Ireland,

You do not need to contact Revenue about this change because the following steps must be done by the employer to ensure your tax details transfer correctly to your new employer.
Your old employer will notify Revenue that you have left by including your leaving date on the final payroll submission.
Your new employer (University of Galway) will notify Revenue that you have commenced working with them through their payroll process.

ASC45 certificate: If you were previously in a pensionable public service employment in Ireland during the year you commenced employment at University of Galway, you must provide your ASC45 certificate that you received from your previous employer to HR or Payroll.

3. Second or Multiple Employers

If you are currently registered with other employers (work with more than one employer at the same time),

You must wait for your new employer (University of Galway payroll office) to notify Revenue that you have commenced working with the University through the payroll process.
Check on myAccount with Revenue to see that your University employment is listed on your updated tax certificate which confirms that your employer has notified Revenue of your employment.
The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system treats one job as your main employment. Revenue will give your tax credits and rate band to that job and your second or multiple employments will be left with zero tax credits and zero rate band resulting in 40% PAYE and 8% USC deductions.
You can divide your tax credits and tax rate band and USC rate band between employers.

What to do if you have a second employer is outlined on the Revenue website.

After Tax & USC Details Updated on Payroll

When you expect your tax credit certificate to be amended you should view the following to ensure your details are up to date for payroll.

View Your Tax Credit Certificate

Check your most recent tax credit certificate from Revenue which you can view on My Account. (Click here for information about this)

You should also check your University of Galway ESS - Time & Pay to ensure the details correspond.

A Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) is a certificate issued by Revenue. It provides information about the tax credits you're currently using, your income tax rate band, and your Universal Social Charge (USC) rates and thresholds. Your employer will also receive a notification indicating the total amount of your tax credits and rate band, but it won't include a detailed breakdown of your claimed tax credits. The USC rates and thresholds are listed on your employer's certificate.

Please remember to inform us if you cease your employment, as your records may still be active in our system.

Tax Credit Entitlement

Most employees are entitled to a Personal Tax Credit and an Employee Tax Credit. If you notice that you are missing one of these tax credits on your tax credit certificate, you should contact Revenue to ascertain the reason for same.

Some employees may be entitled to other tax credits.

Tax Basis: Week One / Month One

If you notice your tax basis is on a week one / month one, you should contact the Revenue Commissioners immediately to ascertain the reason for same. You may end up overpaying / underpaying tax and usc until you resolve this with Revenue. Please see Revenue website for an explanation on week one / month one basis.

Tax Basis: Cumulative

Tax is normally calculated using the ‘cumulative basis’. This means that each pay day, all earnings and all tax credits from 1 January of that year are accumulated. This is to ensure you have paid the correct amount of tax and you have received the benefit of all your tax credits.

You need to ensure your tax basis is cumulative if you are due a refund for the current tax year.