Frequently asked questions
Short answers, with the figures read from the same 2026 data file the calculators use (last verified 10/10/2026). Each answer links to the calculator or guide that goes deeper.
About the site
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Is IrishPayCalc run by Revenue or the Government?
No. IrishPayCalc is an independent publisher of free calculators and guides. It has no connection with Revenue, the Department of Social Protection or the Workplace Relations Commission.
What it does do is show its working: every rate, band and credit is read from a versioned data file in which each entry carries a link to the official page it came from, the section of that page, its effective date and the date it was last read.
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Why does every page say "estimates only"?
Because a calculator can only apply published rules to the figures you give it. It cannot see your Revenue record, your contract, your PRSI history or a Department decision on your claim — and any of those can change the real answer. Estimates only — not professional advice. Before you act on a figure, check it with the body that decides it (Revenue, the DSP or the WRC), with Citizens Information, or with a qualified professional.
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Do you store the salary or dates I type in?
No. Every calculation runs inside your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to this site or to anyone else, and it is discarded when you leave the page.
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Which tax year do the calculators use?
The 2026 rules, in force from 01/01/2026, last verified against the official pages on 10/10/2026.
The 2027 figures have also been published and the Budget take-home pay calculator compares the two years side by side.
Pay and tax
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How is take-home pay worked out?
Income tax is charged at 20% up to your standard-rate cut-off point and 40% above it, then reduced by your tax credits. The Universal Social Charge (USC) is a separate charge on your income with its own bands, and PRSI is a weekly social-insurance charge. The three together are what separate gross pay from net pay.
For 2026 a single person's standard-rate cut-off point is €44,000, the personal tax credit is €2,000 and the Employee (PAYE) tax credit is €2,000.
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Is there an income below which no USC is charged?
Yes. If your total income for the year is €13,000 or less you pay no USC at all. Once income goes above that figure, USC is charged on all of it, not only on the part above the line.
Leaving a job
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Is a redundancy payment taxed?
Statutory redundancy — the legal minimum of 2 weeks' pay per year of service plus 1 extra week, with pay capped at €600 a week — is always completely tax-free. You need at least 104 weeks of continuous service to qualify for it.
Anything your employer pays on top (an ex-gratia lump sum) can be partly or fully tax-free under whichever of three reliefs gives you the most: the Basic Exemption (€10,160 plus €765 per complete year of service), the Increased Exemption (up to €10,000 more, reduced by any tax-free pension lump sum) or SCSB, a formula based on your average pay and years of service. The reliefs share a €200,000 lifetime limit, and whatever is left over is taxed as income.
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How much notice must my employer give me?
Once you have 13 weeks of continuous service, the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 sets a floor that rises with your length of service — from 1 week to 8 weeks after 15 years. A contract can promise more, never less: a shorter clause is read as the statutory figure.
The notice you owe your employer is a flat 1 week unless your contract asks for more. Since 20 December 2001 the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 (section 8) applies the Minimum Notice Acts to part-time employees in the same way as to full-time employees, so the 1973 Act's exclusion of jobs under eighteen hours a week no longer keeps a part-time worker outside the bands. A complaint about notice goes to the Workplace Relations Commission within 6 months of the date of the contravention, which the WRC can extend to 12 months if it accepts there was reasonable cause for the delay.
Family and carers
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Is Maternity Benefit taxable?
Yes — it is liable to income tax, but never to USC or PRSI. Nothing is deducted from the payment itself: Revenue collects the tax through your payroll numbers by treating the weekly benefit as 52 weeks of income, cutting your standard-rate band by that amount and your tax credits by 20% of it. If your employer tops up your pay, the tax shows up on that top-up.
The 2026 weekly rate is €299 for Maternity Benefit (26 weeks), Paternity Benefit (2 weeks), Parent's Benefit (9 weeks).
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How much savings can I have and still get Carer's Allowance?
Savings, investments and property other than your home are turned into a weekly "means" figure. The first €50,000 of capital counts for nothing; above that, each €1,000 adds a set weekly amount that rises through the bands. A couple's combined capital is halved before the formula and the result doubled.
That weekly figure is added to cash income, the first €1,000 a week (€2,000 for a couple) is disregarded from 2 July 2026, and the payment then falls in steps: every €2.50 of means above €7.60 — or any part of that step, so one cent over already counts — takes €2.50 off the weekly rate. So there is no single savings ceiling — it depends on your other income.
Property and cars
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What is benefit-in-kind on a company car?
If you can use a company car privately, Revenue treats a share of its original market value as extra pay ("notional pay") and taxes it through payroll. The share depends on the car's CO2 band and your business mileage. For 2026, the value is first reduced by €10,000 for most bands, plus a further €20,000 for fully electric cars. Both reliefs are temporary and already legislated to shrink: the general relief falls to €5,000 in 2027, €2,500 in 2028, and the electric-car relief to €10,000 in 2027, nothing from 2028.
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How is stamp duty on a house calculated?
Residential property is charged in slices: 1% on the first €1,000,000, 2% between €1,000,000 and €1,500,000, 6% on the part above €1,500,000. Each rate applies only to its own slice of the price. Non-residential property pays a flat 7.5% on the full price. The tax is paid through your solicitor when the deed is signed.
Using the site
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Can I embed a calculator on my own website?
Yes. Every calculator has an embed version at /embed/ followed by its address (for example /embed/paye-take-home/) that can be placed in an iframe. The embed keeps the disclaimer, the dated source citation and a link back to the full calculator. It also sends your page its own height as it changes, so a two-line listener on your side (shown in the embed page source) can resize the iframe to fit.
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I think a figure on the site is wrong. What can I do?
Send the correction, with a link to the official page that shows the right figure, through the Contact page. Factual corrections are checked against the official publication and the data file is updated when they hold up. That inbox is for legal notices, privacy matters, copyright notices and factual corrections only — it does not answer questions about your own situation.