Employee pay day - calculating Income Tax and Universal Social Charge
Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay periods
Note
The information on this page refers to current employer obligations. For employer obligations before 1 January 2019, please see the Employers' Guide to PAYE.
Tax credits, tax cut-off points and Universal Social Charge (USC) cut-off points are applied in different ways. This depends on how frequently an employer pays an employee.
An employee may be taxed on an emergency basis. More information on how to apply this can be found in the emergency basis section.
Our weekly and monthly Income Tax calendar will help an employer organise their pay schedule.
Weekly pay
For cumulative basis, an employer must apply the following up to and including the week in which the pay day falls:
- tax credits
- tax cut-off points
- and
- USC cut-off points.
For week 1 basis, an employer must apply the amounts shown on the Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN).
If a pay date falls on 30 or 31 December, see ‘Week 53’ payments in the Employers’ Guide to PAYE paragraph 14.3.
Fortnightly pay
For cumulative basis, an employer must apply tax credits, tax cut-off points and USC cut-off points as shown in the table.
Weeks in which to apply cut-off points for fortnightly pay
| Income Tax week in which payment is made |
Cumulative tax credits, tax cut-off points and USC cut-off points at week number |
| 1 or 2 |
2 |
| 3 or 4 |
4 |
| 5 or 6 |
6 |
For week 1 basis, an employer must apply twice the weekly amount of the following that is shown on the RPN:
- tax credits
- tax cut-off points
- and
- USC cut-off points.
If a pay date falls on 30 or 31 December, see ‘Week 53’ payments in the Employers’ Guide to PAYE paragraph 14.3.
Four-weekly pay
For cumulative basis, an employer must apply tax credits, tax cut-off points and USC cut-off points as shown in the table.
Weeks in which to apply cut-off point for four-weekly pay
| Income Tax week in which payment is made | Cumulative tax credits, tax cut-off points and USC cut-off points at week number |
|---|
|
1-4
|
4
|
|
5-8
|
8
|
|
9-12
|
12
|
For week 1 basis, an employer must apply four times the weekly amount shown on the RPN of:
- tax credits,
- tax cut-off points
- and
- USC cut-off points.
If a pay date falls on 30 or 31 December, see ‘Week 53’ payments in the Employers’ Guide to PAYE paragraph 14.3.
Monthly pay
For cumulative basis, an employer must apply the following up to and including the month in which the pay day falls:
- cumulative tax credits
- tax cut-off points
- and
- USC cut-off points.
For month 1 basis, the employer must use the monthly amount of tax credits, tax cut-off points and USC cut-off points shown on the RPN.
Next: Twice-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly pay periods