Job Assist (Long Term Unemployed taking up a Job)

There is a special tax relief for people who have been unemployed for one year or more and who take up a job. The relief in the first year of employment is €3,810 plus €1,270 for each child, reducing to two-thirds of that amount in Year 2 and one-third in Year 3.

Who can Claim?
Conditions to Qualify
Relief Due
Documentation Required
Reference Material
Additional Information

Who can Claim?

An Individual who -

Has been continuously unemployed for at least 12 months and
Is in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance, Jobseekers Benefit, One Parent Family Payment, Blind Persons Pension, Disability Allowance or
With effect from the 01/01/06 Invalidity Pension for at least 12 months or Illness Benefit for at least 36 months.

From 01/01/10, up to 15 days of incidental employment, which has been taken into account in calculating Social Protection benefits, will not be counted (i.e. Social Protection payments received for 12 months and up to 15 days to include incidental employment days).

The following categories of prisoners will also qualify for Job Assist -

With effect from 31st of July 1998 prisoners released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement can qualify provided the period spent in prison was for a continuous period of at least 12 months, immediately prior to the date they start the job
With effect from the 1st of January 2006, if an individual has been released from prison then periods spent in prison are deemed equivalent to periods of unemployment.

Conditions to Qualify

Claimant must take up an employment which -

Starts on or after 6th April 1998
Is for a minimum period of 30 hours per week
Is capable of lasting 12 months and
The previous holder was not unfairly dismissed
The employment is not primarily commissioned based (i.e. over 75% of earnings derived from commission)
There were no redundancies in the company in the previous 26 weeks
It is not an employment where the employer required no workforce.

Relief Due

Refer to charts for allowance due.

Claimant is entitled to an additional allowance for each qualifying child.

Allowances are due for a period of three tax years.

Documentation Required

Form RJA1 - Revenue Job Assist Claim Form (PDF, 338KB)

Part 1 to be completed by employee.

Part 2 to be completed by employer.

Reference Material

Additional Information

Relief is granted to qualifying individual only
It is only available against the earnings of a qualifying job and cannot exceed the earnings from the qualifying job
Claimant may claim in the tax year of assessment when the employment commenced or in the following tax year whichever is most beneficial
Unused portion of allowance is non-transferable to spouse or civil partner
An employee may change/recommence employment once during the three year period and keep the allowance provided the second job is also a qualifying employment. If an employee moves onto a third job they will lose the allowance.

(Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF)

Updated: October 2011

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