How it's calculated
Your take-home pay is your gross salary minus three statutory deductions and any pension contribution you make through payroll:
- Pension contribution. A percentage of your salary paid to an occupational pension, PRSA or retirement annuity. It gets income tax relief up to an age-related share of your earnings, from 15% under 30 to 40% from 60, on earnings up to €115,000.Revenue
- Income tax (PAYE). Taxable pay up to your standard rate cut-off point is taxed at 20% and the rest at 40%. Your tax credits are then deducted.Revenue
- Universal Social Charge. Charged on your gross pay, with no relief for pension contributions, in bands of 0.5%, 2%, 3% and 8%.Revenue
- PRSI. Class A employee PRSI on gross pay, worked out week by week: nothing up to €352 a week, a tapering PRSI credit up to €424, and 4.2% of all pay until 30 September 2026, then 4.35% from 1 October.Department of Social Protection
The formula
- Taxable pay = gross salary − pension contribution (up to the relief limit).
- Income tax = 20% × min(taxable pay, rate band) + 40% × the rest − tax credits (never below zero).
- USC = the sum over the bands of rate × gross pay in the band, or nothing if gross pay is €13,000 or less.
- PRSI = 39 weeks × the weekly charge at the January rates + 13 weeks × the weekly charge at the October rates, where weekly pay = gross ÷ 52.
- Take-home pay = gross − pension − income tax − USC − PRSI, divided by 12, 26 or 52 for monthly, fortnightly or weekly pay.
Rate bands for 2026: €44,000 single, €48,000 for a single parent, €53,000 for a married couple with one income, plus up to €35,000 more where both partners earn. A single PAYE employee's credits are the €2,000 personal credit and the €2,000 Employee Tax Credit.
Worked example
A single employee aged 35 on €50,000 a year with no pension contribution:
| Line | Year | Month | Fortnight | Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €50,000.00 | €4,166.67 | €1,923.08 | €961.54 |
| Income tax (PAYE) | €7,200.00 | €600.00 | €276.92 | €138.46 |
| USC | €1,032.82 | €86.07 | €39.72 | €19.86 |
| PRSI | €2,118.61 | €176.55 | €81.49 | €40.74 |
| Take-home pay | €39,648.57 | €3,304.05 | €1,524.95 | €762.47 |
That leaves €3,304.05 a month. Paying 5% into a pension costs less than 5% of take-home pay, because the contribution comes out before income tax: take-home falls to €3,179.05 a month. The same salary for a married couple with one income takes home €3,570.71 a month, because of the wider band and the larger personal credit.
Assumptions and limitations
- PAYE employee, full year, one job. The calculator assumes you work the whole of 2026 for one employer under Class A PRSI and have no other income. Emergency tax, Week 1 basis and mid-year starts are not modelled.
- Cumulative basis. Per-period figures are the annual figures divided evenly. Real payslips can differ by a few cent because Revenue rounds weekly or monthly bands and credits.
- PRSI rise. By default the year is 39 weeks at the old PRSI rates and 13 at the new ones. Switch to the October rates in the advanced options to see a current payslip.
- Couples. Your share under joint assessment assumes the higher earner takes the €53,000 band and the married person's credit. The couple's total tax is the same however it is split. The Home Carer Tax Credit is offered only for one-income couples (it cannot be combined with the dual-income band increase).
- Not included: benefit in kind, salary sacrifice, the USC surcharge on non-PAYE income over €100,000, widowed parent credits, medical expenses relief and other reliefs claimed at year end. Add credits from your Tax Credit Certificate under "Other tax credits".
- Pension limits. Contributions above the age-related limit get no relief in this calculator; Revenue may let you carry excess relief forward.