# Tax credits, USC and PRSI explained | Work and tax | Moving to Ireland > Three separate sets of rules decide how much of your Irish salary you keep. Tax credits cut your income tax bill directly. USC is a second charge on the… Source: https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/tax-credits-usc-and-prsi-explained/ Work and tax · Step 4 of 6 # Tax credits, USC and PRSI explained 4 min read · Updated 13 September 2026 Three separate sets of rules decide how much of your Irish salary you keep. Tax credits cut your income tax bill directly. USC is a second charge on the same income with its own bands. PRSI is social insurance that buys you cover for unemployment, illness, maternity and retirement. The three are often lumped together as "tax", but they behave differently, and knowing which is which helps you claim what you are owed and understand what you are paying for. All figures below are for the 2026 tax year. ## Tax credits: money off your tax bill A tax credit is not a deduction from income. It is subtracted from the tax you would otherwise pay, so a €2,000 credit is worth exactly €2,000 to everyone who has enough tax to use it. The credits below are the ones most newcomers can claim.
Credit (2026)AmountWho gets it
Personal Tax Credit, single€2,000Every single person, automatically
Personal Tax Credit, married or civil partners€4,000Jointly assessed couples
Employee (PAYE) Tax Credit€2,000Anyone taxed under PAYE, automatically
Earned Income Credit€2,000Self-employed and proprietary directors (instead of the Employee credit)
Single Person Child Carer Credit€1,900A single parent with a qualifying child living with them; also widens the 20% band to €48,000
Rent Tax Credit€1,000 single, €2,000 couplePrivate tenants paying rent for their home; must be claimed
Home Carer Credit€1,950A married person caring at home for a child or dependent relative
The personal and employee credits together mean a single employee pays no income tax on the first €20,000 of earnings. The **Rent Tax Credit** is worth 20% of rent paid up to the maximum, and Budget 2026 extended it unchanged until the end of 2028. It is not applied automatically: claim it in myAccount for the current year (which adjusts your payslips) or in your tax return for a past year. Landlords must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board and you need their name and the RTB registration number. Other common claims are medical expenses at 20%, tuition fees, the remote working relief on 30% of electricity, heat and broadband, and flat-rate expenses for many occupations including nurses, teachers and hospitality workers. ## USC: the second income charge The Universal Social Charge was introduced in 2011 and has never been fully removed. No credits reduce it. If your total income for the year is **€13,000 or less** you are fully exempt. Once you pass that figure, all your income is charged, in the bands below.
Income slice (2026)USC rate
First €12,0120.5%
€12,013 to €28,7002%
€28,701 to €70,0443%
Above €70,0448%
Two reduced-rate rules are worth knowing. If you are aged 70 or over, or you hold a full medical card, and your total income is **€60,000 or less**, you pay a maximum of 2% on anything above €12,012. Self-employed people pay an extra 3% surcharge on income over €100,000, making 11% on that slice. USC applies to employment income, benefit in kind, rental income and self-employed profits, but not to Department of Social Protection payments. ## PRSI: what you pay Pay Related Social Insurance is collected through payroll alongside tax. Almost all employees aged 16 to 70 in private industry, and most public servants recruited since 1995, are in **Class A**. Rates are rising a little each year until 2028 under the Government's plan to fund the State Pension.
Class A employee PRSIValue
Rate from 1 January 20264.2% of gross pay
Rate from 1 October 20264.35% of gross pay
Weekly earnings at or below €352No employee PRSI (employer still pays)
Weekly earnings €352.01 to €424Tapered credit of up to €12 a week reduces the charge
Employer contribution11.25% (11.40% from 1 October 2026); 9% (9.15% from 1 October 2026) on pay of €552 a week or less
The other classes you may meet are Class S for self-employed people (4.2%, rising to 4.35%, on all income, with a minimum annual contribution), Class J for people earning under €38 a week or working past 70 (occupational injuries cover only), and Class M for people with no liability, such as those under 16. Your PRSI class appears on every payslip. ## PRSI: what it entitles you to Each week you pay Class A PRSI you earn one paid contribution. Benefits are unlocked once you have enough contributions, and a few depend on recent contributions rather than lifetime totals. - **Jobseeker's Benefit** and the new **Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit**: after 104 paid contributions, if you lose your job. - **Illness Benefit**: after 104 paid contributions and 39 in the relevant year, once statutory sick pay from your employer ends. - **Maternity, Paternity and Parent's Benefit**: 39 contributions in the 12 months before your leave, or in the relevant tax year. - **Treatment Benefit**: free dental exams, scale and polish, eye tests and hearing aid grants after a qualifying period of contributions. - **State Pension (Contributory)**: paid from age 66 to people with at least 520 paid contributions (10 years). - **Invalidity Pension, Carer's Benefit, Widow's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension** and the **Occupational Injuries** scheme. Contributions you paid in another EU or EEA country, the UK or a country with a bilateral agreement with Ireland can be combined with Irish contributions to qualify for many of these benefits, so keep your social security records from home. You can check your Irish contribution record at any time on MyWelfare.ie once you have a verified MyGovID. ## ★ Useful links - [Revenue: tax credits, rates and bands 2026](https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/tax-relief-charts/index.aspx) - [Revenue: Rent Tax Credit](https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/land-and-property/rent-credit/index.aspx) - [Citizens Information: USC](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/tax/income-tax/universal-social-charge/) - [Citizens Information: PRSI classes](https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social-welfare/irish-social-welfare-system/social-insurance-prsi/social-insurance-classes/) - [MyWelfare: check your contribution record](https://www.mywelfare.ie/) ![](https://www.movingtoireland.co/apple-touch-icon.png) You have read 25% of this guide ## Keep reading in the Moving to Ireland app The rest of **Tax credits, USC and PRSI explained** — about 3 minutes more — is in the app, free to download, alongside 98 other guides and a checklist built around your own move. Still to come in this guide - USC: the second income charge - PRSI: what you pay - PRSI: what it entitles you to [Download free on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261) iPhone and iPad · no account needed ## More on work and tax [All 6 guides in this section](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/) - ### [Salary after tax in Ireland: what you actually take home](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/salary-after-tax-in-ireland/) The salary in your job offer is a gross figure. Before it reaches your bank account, three separate deductions come off it: income tax, the Universal… 4 min read - ### [Minimum wage in Ireland 2026](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/minimum-wage-ireland-2026/) Ireland has one of the higher statutory minimum wages in the EU, and it is reviewed every year on the advice of the Low Pay Commission. If you are… 4 min read - ### [PAYE explained for newcomers](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/paye-explained-for-newcomers/) If you are employed in Ireland, you almost never send money to the tax office yourself. Instead your employer calculates the tax on each payslip and pays… 4 min read - ### [How to find a job in Ireland from abroad](https://www.movingtoireland.co/guides/work-and-tax/how-to-find-a-job-in-ireland/) Ireland has close to full employment, with unemployment hovering around 4 to 5% through 2025 and 2026, and many employers are used to hiring from… 4 min read Keep going ## Get the full work and tax roadmap in the app Moving to Ireland turns 99 guides into a personal checklist. Tell it your passport, whether you have moved yet, and who is coming with you, and it lays out every step in order — from the visa to the bins. - Step-by-step checklist - Tailored to your passport - Pre-move & post-move - Family & pet sections [![Download Moving to Ireland on the App Store](https://www.movingtoireland.co/images/app-store-badge.svg)](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261) ★★★★★ 4.9 on the App Store [![Expats who settled in Ireland, two five-star App Store reviews, and the Moving to Ireland app showing its relocation checklist](https://www.movingtoireland.co/images/app-social-proof.webp)](https://apps.apple.com/app/moving-to-ireland/id6446055261)