Ireland has its May Public Holiday on Monday May 4th. Friday May 1st however is a public holiday in many European countries.

As a result, May 1st is a non-processing day in the Single European Payments Area (SEPA). This means that payments scheduled for May 1st will not be debited or credited until the next working day which in Ireland’s case is Tuesday, May 5th. This applies even to transfers between Irish accounts.

Employers who normally pay wages electronically on a Friday therefore will have to schedule payments for the day before, Thursday April 30th, to ensure that employees receive their pay on time.

Businesses should consult their own bank’s website to ascertain specific arrangements which may affect them.

For further information, please contact us at 091 778911 or via website contact page

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While banks and many businesses close on Good Friday, employers should note that Good Friday is not a designated Public Holiday under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Therefore, additional pay or premium payments are not payable to employees working on Good Friday.

Leave taken on Good Friday should be treated as part of an employee’s annual leave entitlement unless specific special leave provisions are in place in employee contracts.

For further information, please contact us at 091 778911 or via website contact page

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Medical Insurance is very much in the news at the moment with loadings being introduced after April 30th 2015 for people aged over 34 taking out inpatient private health insurance for the first time.

As many people will be looking at their options in advance of April 30th, it is important to understand the tax relief available on medical insurance premia. [Read more…]

Many business owners and managers are somewhat fearful of outsourcing the payroll processing function for their organisations. However, those that have taken the “leap of faith” have been pleasantly surprised with the results. [Read more…]

The Cycle to Work Scheme was introduced in 2009 to encourage more employees to cycle to and from work, thereby helping to lower carbon emissions, reducing traffic congestion and improving health and fitness levels.

Under the scheme an employer may provide an employee or director with a bicycle and/or cycle safety equipment to a maximum value of €1,000 (including VAT) without the employee being liable for benefit-in-kind taxation. [Read more…]

Under the Taxsaver scheme (www.taxsaver.ie) employers in the Republic of Ireland can purchase tax free monthly or annual bus and rail tickets for employees and directors. [Read more…]

At present, earnings under €10,036 in a tax year are exempt from Universal Social Charge (USC). This threshold will rise to €12,012 in Tax Year 2015.

Many part-time employees earning less than €10,036 are charged USC and have to claim a refund at the end of the tax year. [Read more…]

Section 33 subsection 1 of the Organisation of Working Time 1997 states the following:

“An employer shall not employ an employee to do any work in a relevant period during which the employee has done work for another employer, except where the aggregate of the periods for which such an employee does work for each of such employers respectively in that relevant period does not exceed the period for which that employee could, lawfully under this Act, be employed to do work for one employer in that relevant period.” [Read more…]

An employer contribution to a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) is a chargeable benefit-in-kind for tax purposes in the hands of the employee. As the Universal Social Charge (USC) treatment follows the income tax treatment, USC should be deducted on this employer contribution.

While these contributions are regarded as a taxable benefit in the employee’s hands, these same contributions qualify for full tax relief subject to certain age-related limits. This only relieves them from PAYE and PRSI however and the USC liability remains.

Employers should ensure that any PRSAs are set up correctly on their payroll systems to ensure that USC is deducted from employees on any employer contribution.

For further information, please contact us on 091-778911 or email payroll@optimpayroll.com

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Where an employee has more than one employment, it is important that tax credits, standard rate cut-off points and Universal Social Charge cut-off points are allocated correctly between the employments. [Read more…]