My first job: How much will I earn – and will I be taxed?

You most likely won’t pay tax, provided you follow our steps. And if you do get hit with emergency tax, here’s how to claim it back

Many people will be starting their first job this summer: getting the paperwork right is important when it comes to pay and tax. Photograph: iStock

Tue Jun 03 2025 - 05:00

This summer, thousands of students across the State will be embarking upon a rite of passage – their first job. Although some might have earned money casually up to now – babysitting, cutting lawns, etc – the formality of becoming a registered employee brings a certain amount of bureaucracy to the process.

Finding seasonal work can be tricky but, if you do succeed, you’ll want to get the most from the experience.

Taxes, working hours, getting paid – it is best to familiarise yourself with what’s expected this summer, so you don’t get any nasty shocks when it’s time to get paid.

So what do you need to be aware of?

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What will I get paid?

This will obviously depend on your employer, but it is worth noting your rights in this respect. Since January 1st of this year, the minimum wage is €13.50 per hour. So, based on a 39-hour working week, this would be €526.50 a week.

However, special rates do apply depending on your age. For example, if you’re under 18, employers can pay you just 70 per cent of the main rate, or €9.45 an hour. They don’t have to but the decision is theirs. This would give weekly earnings of €368.55 a week, based on 39 hours.

Once you turn 18, this increases to €10.80 an hour, and to €12.15 for 19-year-olds.

Also bear in mind rules around Sunday and bank holiday pay. If you work Sundays, for example, you may be entitled to additional pay, of time and a half.

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Getting paid is, for most young people, the best part of the job, but make sure you have a bank account you can get paid into.

You might already have a Revolut card but this may not work when it comes to getting your wages paid. This is because many under-18s will have a junior card through their parents’ accounts. And this is more of a payment card than a current account.

A spokesman for Revolut says the bank’s under-18 accounts “are not designed to receive payments from external sources like employers”.

This might change, though not in time for this summer. Given the demand, he says the fintech is “also exploring a more independent solution with greater functionality for older teens”.

For now, it is best to open a bank account with one of the main clearing banks operating in the retail market.

With AIB, for example, if you’re under 18 you can open a student account which will give you a current account and a debit card (if you’re under 16 you’ll need parental consent to do this). If you’re over 16, you can enhance this by adding Google or Apple Pay to your phone, allowing you to pay for transactions – drawn from your current account – with your phone.

As a student, you will avoid all the normal transaction and maintenance charges associated with bank accounts – at least for the next few years. And AIB says it will pay the €30 annual Government stamp duty associated with your card on your behalf.

If you’re over 16, you can open such an account online through AIB’s app. You will need to show proof of identity, typically your passport, and proof of address – bear in mind that banks will typically accept a utility bill addressed to a parent to show this, if you don’t have such a bill in your name.

The other banks will have similar arrangements.

Once it’s set up, you can then supply your employer with the Iban and Bic numbers associated with your account, so this is something you should get working on before you start work.

Beware emergency tax

It can be tough to have done the work and be looking forward to pay day only to find out that Revenue has claimed almost half of your earnings. This happens when either you haven’t given your employer your PPS (personal public service) number, or your job isn’t registered with Revenue.

So how to avoid the disappointment?

According to Laura Whelan, a tax director with PwC, the first step is to register your employment with Revenue. To do this, Revenue suggests you set up a MyAccount, which can take a couple of days to go live.

“Ideally do it in advance,” says Whelan. For this, you’ll need your PPSN, your date of birth and contact details.

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If you were born in Ireland, you will have been assigned a PPS number at birth. If you don’t know it, check with your parents first. If they cannot dig it up, or if you were born outside the State, you will need to contact the Department of Social Protection to get your number or have one assigned to you. That could take about two working weeks so, again, it is worth sorting out in advance.

When you have it, do remember to pass it on to your employer also.

Once you have a MyAccount, you need to transfer your tax credits to your employer. You can do this by accessing the “Add Job or Pension Details” link under the “PAYE Services” tab. Revenue will then send a notification to your employer indicating your tax credits and rate bands. Your pay should then be taxed as normal.

Will I have to pay tax?

If you’re just working for the summer and you’re in a job paying about the minimum wage, you likely won’t have a tax bill. But there are some important points to note to ensure that you don’t.

First is how your tax credits are allocated. The options are emergency, cumulative or Week 1 basis. And, as Whelan points out, each can have quite different outcomes for your pocket.

If you’re starting work for the first time this summer, “you want to make sure tax credits are considered cumulative”, advises Whelan. This means that you will benefit from credits unused in the first five months of the year, and will mean your chances of paying tax will be lower this summer.

“Really, for anyone earning €250-€450 a week, tax credits could cover them for that period over the summer,” says Whelan, “but if they continue on working after that, they might end up paying tax”.

Tax credits come to €4,000 per person, per year. “So if you’re just starting in June, you have essentially 5/12ths of that €4,000 built up unused,” says Whelan, or about €1,667. Thereafter, on a weekly basis you will have a tax credit of €77.

You also need to consider what rate of tax might apply. For 2025, the standard rate of tax – 20 per cent – extends to the first €44,000 you earn. Above that, it’s 40 per cent. For most casual summer workers, it is the 20 per cent rate that will apply – if any.

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Let’s consider someone earning €250 a week. As Whelan notes, this suggests a tax charge of €50 at 20 per cent. Given your weekly tax credit is €77, it would cover the tax owed, so none is due.

Push these earnings up to €500, and the tax due would be €100. That’s obviously above the €77 weekly credit. However, those cumulative credits built up over the early months of the year when you weren’t working will then kick in, meaning that, again, you won’t pay any tax.

If you opted to be taxed on a Week 1 basis, only the credit of €77 would apply – so you would pay tax. However, if this happens, notify Revenue and you should get any tax you have paid back.

If you don’t get around to doing that, Whelan suggests doing a tax return at year end as another way of getting any tax you paid during the summer months in work back.

You can check how your credits are allocated on your payslip and if it’s not what you want, get in touch with Revenue and ask to change it.

Of course, it’s not just income tax you have to worry about – universal social charge (USC) and PRSI (pay-related social insurance) can also bring down your take-home pay.

“If you have income in a tax year of less than €13,000, you do not pay any USC,” says Whelan. So, it’s not a deduction for most summer workers.

However, Revenue won’t know how much you might earn, and so USC might be charged. To avoid this, Whelan says get in touch with the tax office (via MyEnquiries on MyAccount) and let them know that you don’t expect to earn more than €13,000 this year.

If you don’t notify Revenue and you pay USC, you can claim this back at year-end in a tax return.

Once you earn more than €13,000, USC kicks in at a rate of 0.5 per cent on earnings of up to €12,012, and 2 per cent on the next €15,370.

Finally, there is PRSI, or social insurance.

“If you’re earning less than €350 a week, no PRSI is due,” says Whelan. If you earn between €352 and €424 you do pay PRSI at a rate of 4.1 per cent but credits apply. Once above the €424 a week earnings level, the full weight of PRSI applies and is not reclaimable.

Claiming back tax

If you do get caught short, and end up being hit with emergency tax on your first pay cheque, don’t despair. It is possible to get it back.

To do this, you will first need to ensure you take the above steps and that your employer has your tax details. They will then take you off emergency tax, so you will be paid the correct amount going forward.

If you have overpaid tax, you should get this back in your next pay cheque. “The following week in your pay, you’ll get that tax back,” says Whelan.