How to read an Irish payslip
Every line, in order, in plain language.
A payslip is a legal entitlement: you must be given a written statement of gross pay and every deduction. Understanding it is what makes the entitlement useful.
The top: gross pay
Gross pay is everything you earned before anything comes off — basic hours, overtime, premiums, holiday pay, bonuses. If your hours are variable, this is the number to check against your own record of shifts first, because every other figure follows from it.
The statutory deductions
PAYE is income tax. USC is the Universal Social Charge. PRSI is your social insurance contribution. These three are set by law and your employer has no discretion over them.
Your payslip should also show your tax credits and standard rate cut-off point for the period. If those look wrong, the fix is with Revenue, not with payroll.
Cumulative columns
Many payslips carry a second set of figures for the year to date. Because most employees are taxed cumulatively, these are what actually determine each period's deduction. A single period viewed in isolation can look strange and still be correct.
Other deductions
Pension contributions, bike-to-work repayments, union dues, salary-sacrifice schemes. These are deductions you have agreed to, and they should each be named.
Net pay
Gross minus every deduction. The arithmetic is worth doing once by hand: if gross minus the listed deductions does not equal net, something is missing from the statement.
The codes worth knowing
Week 1 / Month 1 means you are taxed on a non-cumulative basis — each period stands alone. Emergency means your employer has no Revenue instruction for you and tax is being deducted at a high rate. Both are usually temporary and both are resolved through Revenue myAccount.