Emergency tax in Ireland and how to fix it
Last updated: 12 October 2026
When Revenue puts a new job on emergency tax in 2026, the PPSN rules, and the myAccount steps that let the employer get an RPN.
Why an employer uses emergency tax
Emergency tax is what payroll uses when it cannot download a Revenue Payroll Notification. Revenue’s jobs-and-pensions page, published 24 February 2026, says the employer needs your PPSN and the job has to be registered. Income tax and USC are then taken at the emergency rates. The deduction is often far higher than a normal week, because the emergency basis gives no tax credits.
Avoiding it is a registration job, not a negotiation with payroll. Give the employer the PPSN. If this is your first job in the State, register it yourself in myAccount: PAYE Services, then Add Job or Pension Details. If it is a later job, the employer registers it by requesting an RPN. Someone with no PPSN contacts the Department of Social Protection first, then registers for myAccount and adds the job. Once an RPN exists, the employer stops the emergency rates. Revenue says the employer may refund income tax or USC that was over-deducted.
No PPSN: everything at 40%
If the employer has no PPSN, all pay is taxed at 40%, with no credits and no standard-rate band. Revenue’s example is Helena, who started on 25 May on €800 a week and did not provide a PPSN. Tax in that first week is €320. Emergency USC in 2026 is a flat 8% on all of the income, which is a separate line from the €320. The employer keeps using the higher rate until the PPSN is provided and an RPN can be downloaded.
That €320 is not a picture of Helena’s real liability for the year. A single person’s standard-rate band in 2026 is €44,000, and the personal and employee credits are €2,000 each. None of that is available on this emergency basis. The pain is temporary if the PPSN arrives quickly, and it is expensive if the first month is paid before anyone registers the job.
PPSN given, but no RPN yet
If the employer has the PPSN and still cannot get an RPN, the first four weeks use a single person’s standard-rate band and no credits. Revenue’s 2026 emergency-rate sheet sets that weekly cut-off at €846.16, which is €44,000 divided by 52. Pay above the cut-off is taxed at 40%. From week 5, if the job is still unregistered, all pay is taxed at 40%. Monthly pay uses €3,666.67 in month 1 and 40% from month 2. The same sheet shows the fortnightly and four-weekly cut-offs.
Revenue’s example is John, on €900 a week, in his first job in the State, not registered for myAccount. His employer cannot register that first job for him. In each of weeks 1 to 4, €846.16 is taxed at 20%, which is €169.23, and the remaining €53.84 is taxed at 40%, which is €21.54. Income tax is €190.77. From week 5 the whole €900 is taxed at 40%, which is €360. Emergency USC remains the flat 8% while the emergency basis lasts. There is still no tax credit in those figures.
What to do in myAccount
First job in the State: sign in to myAccount, open PAYE Services, and use Add Job or Pension Details. Have the employer’s tax registration number if the form asks for it, and the start date. Later jobs: ask the employer to request an RPN, and give them the PPSN so the request can match your record. A second job also needs your credits and rate band allocated, which is a different myAccount screen and is covered in the guide to USC on a second job.
After the RPN is issued, check the next payslip rather than assuming the refund has arrived. The employer applies the RPN going forward and may refund the over-deduction. If a week has already been submitted to Revenue on the emergency basis, the correction can show up as a refund in a later payroll or in the end-of-year statement. Keep the payslips. They are the record of what was taken.
How far the emergency bill is from a normal week
A normal 2026 calculation for a single PAYE employee uses the €44,000 band, €4,000 of personal and employee credits, USC on the published bands, and Class A PRSI. None of the emergency examples include the credits. John’s €190.77 in week 1 is income tax only, before the 8% emergency USC. A cumulative code with credits would look very different, which is why the first corrected payslip can swing the other way.
The take-home pay calculator is the normal-RPN estimate. It will not reproduce Helena’s €320 or John’s €190.77, because those are emergency calculations with no credits. Use it to see what the week should look like once the job is registered. The income tax calculator isolates the 20% and 40% and the credits. Emergency USC of 8% is not the standard USC table. The standard table is 0.5%, 2%, 3% and 8% on successive slices, and it is what the take-home page uses after the RPN is in place.
What is still easy to get wrong
Giving a PPSN is not the same as registering the employment. John’s example is exactly that case: the number is known, the RPN is not. A first employment in the State has to be added by the employee. Waiting for the employer to “sort out Revenue” leaves week 5 and the following weeks at 40%.
The euro amounts in Helena’s and John’s examples are Revenue’s, from the emergency-tax rules page and the 2026 emergency-rate sheet. The weekly cut-off of €846.16 is €44,000 / 52, rounded as Revenue prints it. Budget 2027’s proposed band changes are not used. This is a description of the emergency basis, not a reconstructed payslip for any real PPSN.