Glossary · 2026

Every term, in one line

The tax and salary words that show up across the site, explained simply. Hover the dotted terms anywhere on income.ie to see these without leaving the page.

Auto-enrolment Effective rate Ex-gratia payment Form 11 Gross pay Marginal rate Preliminary tax PRSA PRSI RSUs SCSB Standard rate cut-off Take-home pay Tax credit USC

Auto-enrolment: Auto-enrolment, branded My Future Fund, is Ireland’s new automatic workplace pension, live from 2026. Eligible workers (aged 23–60, earning over €20,000, not already in a scheme) are enrolled automatically. You contribute 1.5% of pay to begin with, matched by your employer, with a State top-up — all rising over ten years. Unlike a standard pension, your contribution gets no income-tax relief.
Effective rate: Your effective rate is the total tax you pay as a percentage of your entire gross salary — income tax, USC and PRSI combined, divided by gross pay. It is always lower than your marginal rate, because the first part of your income is taxed at lower rates or covered by credits. It is the truest measure of your overall tax burden.
Ex-gratia payment: An ex-gratia payment is any redundancy or severance money your employer pays above the statutory legal minimum. Unlike statutory redundancy (which is fully tax-free), an ex-gratia sum is taxable — but you can shelter part of it using the higher of the Basic Exemption or the SCSB, up to a €200,000 lifetime cap.
Form 11: Form 11 is the income tax return filed by self-employed people, company directors and anyone with significant non-PAYE income. You file it through Revenue’s Online Service (ROS), declaring your profits, other income, credits and reliefs for the year. The deadline is 31 October, extended to mid-November for ROS users who both file and pay online. You pay any balance due plus your preliminary tax for the current year at the same time.
Gross pay: Gross pay is your total salary before income tax, USC, PRSI, pension or any other deduction. It is the figure quoted in job ads and contracts. What you actually receive — your take-home or net pay — is gross minus all of those deductions.
Marginal rate: Your marginal rate is the total tax taken from the next euro you earn — the combined income tax, USC and PRSI on income in your top band. It matters for decisions like a raise, a bonus or a pension contribution, because those are taxed (or relieved) at this rate rather than your average rate. For many Irish workers it is around 48.5%.
Preliminary tax: Preliminary tax is your best estimate of the income tax, USC and PRSI you will owe for the current year, paid in advance under self-assessment by 31 October (or mid-November if you file and pay through Revenue’s ROS). To avoid interest, it must be at least the lower of 90% of the current year’s liability or 100% of the previous year’s. You pay it alongside the balance owed on the previous year.
PRSA: A Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) is a flexible, portable personal pension you arrange yourself rather than through an employer — well suited to the self-employed and freelancers. Your contributions get income-tax relief at your marginal rate, up to an age-related percentage of your earnings (from 15% under 30 to 40% at 60 and over), capped at €115,000 of earnings. It is the main way a self-employed person cuts their tax bill while saving for retirement.
PRSI: Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) is a social-security contribution that builds your entitlement to the State pension, illness benefit, jobseeker’s payments and more. Most employees pay Class A PRSI at 4.2% of gross pay, rising to 4.35% from October 2026. Your employer pays a separate, larger PRSI contribution on top of yours.
RSUs: Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are a form of pay where your employer grants you company shares that vest over a set period. When they vest, their value is treated as employment income and taxed through payroll at your marginal rate (income tax, USC and PRSI). Any growth in the share price after vesting is then subject to Capital Gains Tax when you sell.
SCSB: The Standard Capital Superannuation Benefit (SCSB) is one way to work out the tax-free portion of an ex-gratia redundancy payment. It equals your average annual pay over the last three years × full years of service ÷ 15, minus any tax-free pension lump sum. You get whichever is higher — the SCSB or the Basic Exemption.
Standard rate cut-off: The standard rate cut-off point is the amount of income taxed at the lower 20% rate. Income above it is taxed at 40%. In 2026 it is €44,000 for a single person, €53,000 for a one-income married couple, and up to €88,000 for a two-income couple. Raising it lets you earn more before hitting the higher rate.
Take-home pay: Take-home pay (net pay) is what you receive after income tax, USC, PRSI and any pension or auto-enrolment contributions are taken from your gross salary. It is the number that matters for budgeting, rent and mortgage affordability — and the main thing this site works out.
Tax credit: A tax credit reduces the tax you owe euro-for-euro, after your income tax is worked out. In 2026 a single person gets a €2,000 personal credit plus, for employees, a €2,000 PAYE credit — so the first chunk of income tax is wiped out. Other credits (rent, medical, home carer and more) can reduce it further.
USC: The Universal Social Charge (USC) is a tax on your total income, charged separately from income tax. In 2026 it works on a sliding scale — 0.5% on the first slice of income, then 2%, 3% and 8% on higher portions. You are exempt if you earn €13,000 a year or less. It comes off your pay on top of income tax and PRSI.