An employer's tax and HR calendar for Ireland
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Running payroll and staying compliant in Ireland means hitting a series of fixed deadlines every month, quarter and year. Miss one and you risk surcharges from Revenue, late-filing penalties, or gaps in employee entitlements.
Monthly obligations
Payroll submissions. Every time you pay employees you must file a payroll submission to Revenue through ROS on or before the actual payday. This is the real-time reporting requirement introduced under PAYE Modernisation. There is no end-of-month consolidation — each pay run triggers its own submission.
Employer taxes. PAYE, USC and PRSI deducted from employees, plus your employer PRSI contribution of 11.15%, must be paid to Revenue by the 14th of the following month if paying by cheque, or by the 23rd if you pay online through ROS. Most employers pay online, so the 23rd is the working deadline in practice. Getting this date wrong is one of the most common causes of unnecessary interest charges.
Key annual deadlines
P30 is gone — but the year-end still matters. Since PAYE Modernisation, the old P30 and P35 forms no longer exist. Revenue reconciles your liability in real time from your payroll submissions. That said, you still need to complete a year-end reconciliation through ROS to confirm your payroll figures match Revenue's records for the tax year, and to issue employees with their income details statement.
Income tax returns. If any of your employees have other income, they file their own return. As an employer your direct concern is that your payroll data feeds into Revenue's records accurately, because employees and Revenue both rely on what you submitted.
Corporation tax. Small companies pay preliminary corporation tax by the 23rd of month nine of your accounting period, with the balance and the CT1 return due nine months after your financial year end. This is separate from payroll but lands in the same ROS calendar, so it is worth mapping alongside your payroll deadlines rather than treating it as a finance-only task.
Annual leave accrual. Employees are entitled to 4 working weeks of statutory annual leave per leave year. The leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. If employees carry leave into the new leave year, you should document what has been agreed and ensure you are not inadvertently breaching the Organisation of Working Time Act. A practical point: review outstanding leave balances before 31 March each year and again before a summer shutdown.
Mid-year and ad hoc triggers
New hires. When you take on a new employee, you must notify Revenue immediately — before or on the first payday — by entering them on your payroll and submitting that payroll file. The employee's tax credits and cut-off points are pulled automatically from Revenue once you have their PPSN and they have confirmed their details. Do not wait until week two to set someone up.
Leavers. When an employee leaves, flag them as a leaver on your payroll software in the pay period they depart. Revenue is notified through the payroll submission. There is no separate form; the leaver flag in the submission does the job.
Benefits in kind. Taxable benefits — company cars, preferential loans, employer-paid subscriptions — must be included in payroll and subjected to PAYE, USC and PRSI as they arise, not at year end. If you are giving employees benefits, build a quarterly review into your calendar to make sure everything is being captured correctly.
What is changing in 2026
Auto-enrolment. The Government's My Future Fund pension auto-enrolment scheme is being introduced from 2026. Under the current design, eligible employees will be automatically enrolled, and both employees and employers will make contributions based on a phased schedule. The administration runs through a central system separate from Revenue's payroll infrastructure, but the scheme will affect payroll processes and cost modelling for most employers. If you have not already mapped the potential impact on your wage bill, this is the time to do it.
Minimum wage. The national minimum wage is reviewed annually. Check the current rate on the Workplace Relations Commission website at the start of each calendar year and update payroll before January pay runs.
A working calendar to keep on your wall
| When | What |
|---|---|
| On or before each payday | Payroll submission to Revenue via ROS |
| 23rd of following month | PAYE/USC/PRSI payment to Revenue (online) |
| 31 March | End of leave year — review outstanding annual leave |
| 1 April | New leave year begins |
| End of tax year | Year-end payroll reconciliation on ROS |
| On hiring or departure | Payroll submission with new starter or leaver flag |
| January | Check updated national minimum wage rate |
| Throughout year | Report benefits in kind as they arise |
The simplest system is one where payroll, HR events and tax deadlines live in the same calendar. Separation between these functions is where things get missed.
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