PRSI for Employers in Ireland: Classes, Contributions and Payroll Duties

Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) is the social insurance contribution that employers and employees pay on pay in Ireland, and it is one of the three deductions, alongside Income Tax and USC, that payroll teams handle every pay period. This guide explains what the official pages say about PRSI classes, contributions and an employer's payroll duties. It draws on Revenue, Citizens Information and the Department of Social Protection, and it flags the places where the pages are silent. It complements our guides to benefit in kind for Irish employers and to employment records retention periods.

A note on rates: PRSI rates and thresholds change, and a change took effect on 1 October 2026. The figures in this article are as shown on the pages named, on the dates given, and are included to help you read the pages, not to replace them. Please check the current rates on the day you run payroll.

What PRSI is and who pays

Revenue's page on PRSI for employers says that PRSI is paid by both employers and employees, that the value of the payment is based on the employee's pay, and that PRSI is the main source of funding for social welfare payments. The total PRSI for an employee in a pay period is made up of the employee's share and the employer's share. Each employee has a PRSI class, and the class determines the rate the employer uses.

The Revenue page does not list PRSI rates. It refers readers to the Department of Social Protection for class details and contribution rates. Citizens Information says that most employees aged 16 and over pay PRSI and that the employer is responsible for deducting it from pay. A Department of Social Protection operational guideline on the gov.ie site adds that employers pay PRSI on their employees' reckonable earnings, including notional pay. Notional pay matters whenever you provide a taxable benefit: Revenue's page on vouchers, for example, says the value of a taxable voucher is added to pay as notional pay so that Income Tax, PRSI and USC can be deducted.

PRSI classes

PRSI classes are set mainly by the type of employment, and the class affects which social insurance benefits a person can later claim. Citizens Information (page last edited 1 October 2026) lists twelve classes. The ones an employer is most likely to meet are in the table below. The page's own descriptions are paraphrased, and the full list and benefit detail are on the page.

The page also lists Class E (ministers of religion employed by the Church of Ireland Representative Body), Class P (sharefishermen and sharefisherwomen classified as self-employed who already pay Class S) and Class T (long-term carers). Citizens Information says most employees pay Class A, and that Class S covers self-employed people including certain company directors. Whether a particular director is Class A or Class S is a fact-specific question. Check the Citizens Information and Department of Social Protection pages, or take advice, before assuming.

Contributions: what the pages show

Citizens Information (page last edited 9 October 2026) sets out the Class A position, and the Department of Social Protection guideline confirms the weekly earnings threshold for employee PRSI. Both pages say that an employee earning €352 or less in a week pays no employee PRSI for that week, but the employer's share is still payable. For earnings above that level:

• Employee PRSI (Class A): the page says that from 1 October 2026 the rate is 4.35% on all earnings above €352 a week, up from 4.2% before that date. A tapered credit applies to weekly earnings between €352.01 and €424, and no credit applies above €424.
• Employer PRSI (Class A): from 1 January 2026, 9% on weekly earnings up to €552 and 11.25% on earnings above €552. From 1 October 2026 these become 9.15% and 11.4%. The page also refers to a rise in the employer threshold in 2027 following Budget 2027.
• General rate change: the page states that all PRSI contribution rates increase by 0.15 percentage points on 1 October 2026.

These figures are for illustration of how the system is structured. Different classes have different rates, and the Department of Social Protection page we read for other classes does not carry a date, so we have not set out rates for classes other than Class A. If your payroll includes people outside Class A, use the Department's current contribution rates and user guide.

An employer's payroll duties

Revenue's PRSI page (visible publication date 4 September 2026) sets out what employers must record and how PRSI flows through payroll.

What to record each pay period

Each time an employee is paid, the employer must keep records of the gross pay for PRSI purposes, the employee's PRSI contribution, the employer's PRSI contribution, the employee's PRSI class and the number of weeks of PRSI contributions paid. If an employee changes class during the year, the employer must also record the new class and the number of weeks paid at that class.

Weeks and corrections

The number of weeks reported should match the pay period: one for weekly pay, two for fortnightly pay. Revenue says a cumulative number of weeks should not be included. Revenue says the PRSI class and weeks must be reported correctly, because errors can adversely affect an employee's Department of Social Protection benefit entitlement, and the page says errors should be corrected as soon as the employer becomes aware of them. It links to Revenue's line item correction rules for how to do that.

Keeping PRSI separate

The page says the Collector General's Division pays all PRSI deductions to the Department of Social Protection, and that employers must record Income Tax and USC payments separately from PRSI contributions in their books and accounts. It also says the page covers current obligations, and refers readers to the older Employer's Guide to PAYE for obligations before 1 January 2019. For how long to keep payroll and related records generally, see our employment records retention guide, linked at the start of this article. The Revenue page we read does not set a retention period for PRSI records, so we have not stated one here.

Where PRSI meets benefits and other schemes

The most common payroll mistakes happen at the edges. Benefits that are taxable are normally run through payroll as notional pay, so PRSI follows the same treatment as Income Tax and USC unless a relief applies. Revenue's vouchers page says this in terms. By contrast, some payments are specifically described by Revenue as made without deducting Income Tax, PRSI or USC, such as the remote working daily payment, and those conditions have to be met in full. Our benefit in kind guide, linked above, explains the general framework. We have not covered how PRSI interacts with auto-enrolment contributions in this article. If you are preparing for that scheme, our guide to auto-enrolment and MyFutureFund contributions is the place to start.

A practical approach for payroll teams

Our suggestion: use this as an internal checklist, not as a statement of legal requirements.

• Record the class at hiring. Confirm and record each new employee's PRSI class, and note any later change with the date.
• Diary the rate changes. If a rate change is published, make a note of the date and test your payroll software before the first affected pay run.
• Check weeks against the pay period. A quick review of weeks reported for weekly, fortnightly and monthly staff catches many submission errors.
• Review notional pay. When a benefit is provided, check that its value is going through payroll where it should.
• Correct promptly. If you find an error, correct it using Revenue's published rules rather than waiting for the next period.
• Keep the sources. File the Revenue and Citizens Information pages you relied on, with the date you checked them.

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Frequently asked questions

Who is responsible for deducting PRSI from an employee's pay?

Citizens Information says the employer is responsible for deducting PRSI from pay. Revenue's page adds that PRSI is paid by both employers and employees, and that the employer's share is based on the employee's pay.

Does an employer pay PRSI on a low earner?

Citizens Information and the Department of Social Protection guideline both say an employee earning €352 or less in a week pays no employee PRSI, but the employer's share is still payable. Check the current threshold on the day you run payroll.

What is the most common PRSI class?

Citizens Information describes Class A as covering most employees earning €38 or more a week, including public servants recruited from 6 April 1995.

What records must an employer keep for PRSI?

Revenue says employers must record gross pay for PRSI purposes, the employee's and employer's PRSI contributions for each period, the employee's PRSI class and the number of weeks paid, with additional entries if the class changes during the year.

Where can I find the current PRSI rates?

Revenue's page refers employers to the Department of Social Protection for class details and rates, and Citizens Information sets out Class A rates with its edit date. Rates can change during the year, so check these pages on the day.

If your payroll covers a mix of classes or includes directors, review PRSI treatment at least annually and whenever a rate change is announced.