Irish Income Tax & PAYE Guides Everything for 2026, in one place

Most people arrive here with a specific worry rather than a general interest in tax law. If one of these is yours, go straight to the page beside it.

• "I started a new job and my first payslip looks wrong." Almost always emergency tax, which is temporary and refundable. How to get off it and claim the refund.
• "My bonus was taxed at about half. Is that right?" Usually yes on the day, and often not for the year. PAYE is cumulative, so the month a bonus is paid has only that many twelfths of your cut-off available. Why the payslip looks worse than the year does.
• "I want to check my employer got my tax right." The payslip checker reproduces PAYE, USC and PRSI from your own year-to-date figures rather than assuming standard ones.
• "Am I missing anything I could claim?" This is where most money is left behind, and you can go back four years. Every 2026 credit and who qualifies, then how to actually claim it.
• "I've been offered a job. What would I take home?" Use the calculator for one figure, or compare two offers side by side when the difference is pension or benefits rather than salary.
• "Is a pension contribution worth it?" What each contribution really costs after relief, including the age-related limits and what happens above them.

One thing worth knowing before you read any of it: your own tax credits and standard rate cut-off come from your Revenue certificate, and they are not always the standard figures. If yours differ, enter them rather than accepting the defaults. The main calculator takes your cut-off, and its tick boxes cover the credits themselves; the bonus, pay-rise, net-to-gross, compare and pension pages take both figures straight off the certificate. That is the difference between an estimate and your actual position.