Emergency Basis

The Emergency Basis must be used by an Employer when:

• The employer has not received, in respect of the employee, either a Tax Credit Certificate for the current year or a Form P45 for the current year or previous year, or
• The employee has given the employer a completed Form P45 indicating that the emergency basis applies, or
• The employee has given the employer a completed P45 without a PPS number and not indicating that the emergency basis applies

Tax is calculated on the gross pay (after deduction of Pension contributions and permanent health contributions where relevant). Different rules apply depending on whether or not the employee provides an employer with his/her PPS Number.

• No PPS Number provided
• Validation of PPS Number
• Normal Emergency Rules

No PPS Number provided

Where a new employee does not supply his employer with his PPS number, the employer is obliged to calculate the tax due on the employee's earnings at the higher rate with no tax credit. Where the employee subsequently provides their PPS number the normal emergency basis will apply to the earnings in that and subsequent weeks.

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Validation of PPS Number

Where a new employee provides an employer with a PPS number the employer is obliged to take reasonable steps to ensure that the PPS number provided does in fact refer to that employee. The employer will be regarded as having taken reasonable measures where he or she checks the PPS number provided against any of the following documents:

• A tax credit certificate from a previous employment
• A Form P45
• A Social Welfare Services Card or PPSN Registration Letter issued by the Department of Social Protection
• A Notice of Assessment to Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax
• A Form P21 Balancing Statement
• A Form P60
• Any other item of correspondence from Revenue which specifically quotes the PPS Number
• A pay slip from a previous employer which shows the PPS Number

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Normal Emergency Rules

Under the normal Emergency Basis where a valid PPS number has been provided, a tax credit and Cut-Off Point (COP) is given for the first number of weeks and it is based on the single personal tax credit and COP for the tax year in force regardless of the employee's marital status.

The tax deductions are increased progressively after 4 weeks as follows

• 2011 & 2012 Rates (PDF, 27KB)
• Regulation 22 of Income Tax (Employments) (Consolidated ) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 559 of 2001) (PDF, 139KB.

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