PAYE: How much can you earn before you start paying tax?

Dionysus

I've been in college for most of the year but now that I've started working I'm wondering how much can I earn for this tax year (which ends Dec 31?) before I start paying income tax?
And are there any other taxes which I'd be liable for should I be under this minimum annual income?

Thanks.

namenotavailablE

Here are some general pointers:

• A single person with standard employee credits (€1830 personal and €1830 employee) will effectively be able to earn €18300 pa before PAYE becomes payable.

• If you earn under €15028 pa you won't be liable to the income levy, otherwise you will be liable.

• If your pay varies per month with some months earning over €2167 and other months under that value then you can recover the Health Levy (paid only in the months it's over €2167) so long as your annual pay in total does not exceed €26000. This is done at the end of the year - see the section "Possible refund of Health Contribution" at this page for details. Pay is defined as pay net of any pension or income protection contributions you make.

You can use my tax calculator to get an idea of your pay under various scenarios.

Dionysus

namenotavailabl wrote: »

Here are some general pointers:

• A single person with standard employee credits (€1830 personal and €1830 employee) will effectively be able to earn €18300 pa before PAYE becomes payable.

• If you earn under €15028 pa you won't be liable to the income levy, otherwise you will be liable.

• If your pay varies per month with some months earning over €2167 and other months under that value then you can recover the Health Levy (paid only in the months it's over €2167) so long as your annual pay in total does not exceed €26000. This is done at the end of the year - see the section "Possible refund of Health Contribution" at this page for details. Pay is defined as pay net of any pension or income protection contributions you make.

You can use my tax calculator to get an idea of your pay under various scenarios.

Thanks so very much. I think that answers my question as well as made me aware of my responsibilities and rights under things like the Health Levy.

One question: if my income is actually €16000 for this year, will I pay the Income Levy (which is 5%?) on the €972 difference or on the entire €16k?

namenotavailablE

You'll pay it on the full €16000- it's either payable on everything or not payable at all :-(

One thing to note- the rate of income levy is 2% up to income of €75036 (not 5%). You might be thinking of PRSI, the rate of which depends on your income but is typically 4% with some income exempt from it. PRSI is often included as part of the Health Contribution on a payslip.