What does PRSI get me?
PRSI stands for Pay Related Social Insurance. Each week you pay it counts towards social welfare benefits, such as:
- the State Pension (Contributory)
- a jobseeker’s payment based on your contributions, if you lose your job
- Illness Benefit, if you’re too sick to work
Your employer pays PRSI for you too, on top of your salary.
How much will I pay?
PRSI is a simple percentage of all your pay (before tax):
- 4.2% until 30 September 2026
- 4.35% from 1 October 2026
- 4.5% from 1 October 2027
Example: €40,000 a year. For nine months of 2026 you pay 4.2%, and for the last three 4.35%. That’s €1,695 for the year, or about €141 a month.
| Salary | PRSI in 2026 | About a month |
|---|---|---|
| €30,000 | €1,271.25 | €106 |
| €40,000 | €1,695.00 | €141 |
| €75,000 | €3,178.13 | €265 |
When do I pay less, or nothing?
If you earn €352 a week or less, you don’t pay PRSI.
If you earn a bit more, up to €424 a week, you get a PRSI credit that cuts your PRSI, so it doesn’t jump from nothing to the full amount overnight. For example, on €377 a week you pay €8 instead of €15.83.
Without the credit, PRSI would jump from nothing to about €14.78 a week as soon as you earned a cent over €352.
Unlike income tax, PRSI is worked out on each payslip on its own. A week with low pay can mean no PRSI that week, even if you earn more in other weeks.
Things that don’t reduce PRSI
Pension contributions lower your income tax, but you still pay PRSI on that money. Tax credits don’t reduce PRSI either.
See your own PRSI
Our salary calculator shows your PRSI next to income tax and USC. For all this year’s rates, see Irish tax rates 2026.