This is the refund nobody mentions at the worst possible moment. Your tax credits are spread evenly across the year, so if you stop earning in, say, July, you have had only half a year's pay but paid tax as though the wage would keep coming. The difference is yours.
The only thing standing between you and it is knowing when you are allowed to ask.
Quick facts
- Claim immediately if
- You were on Emergency Tax, or you are leaving Ireland permanently
- Otherwise
- Four weeks after becoming unemployed
- On Jobseeker's Benefit?
- Eight weeks
- Where
- Revenue myAccount — 'Claim unemployment repayment'
- Not online?
- Form P50
- Note
- Some social welfare payments are taxable and count in the sum
When you can claim
Revenue sets four starting points, and picking the right one saves you a refused claim.
"immediately, if Emergency Tax was applied in your last employment." — if your last payslips looked brutally taxed, this is probably you.
"immediately, if you are leaving Ireland permanently."
"four weeks after becoming unemployed, if you are not receiving any other taxable income."
"eight weeks after becoming unemployed, if you are receiving other taxable income such as Jobseekers Benefit."
The four-versus-eight distinction is the one that trips people. Claiming Jobseeker's Benefit doubles the wait, because that payment is itself taxable and Revenue needs it in the calculation.
How to claim
You do not need to chase your old employer for paperwork: "Your employer will provide Revenue with your pay and tax details and your leaving date." Revenue already has the numbers.
Online: "Sign in to myAccount and select ‘Claim unemployment repayment’ on the PAYE Services card."
On paper: "If you are not e-enabled, you can complete a Form P50 and send it to your Revenue office ." P50 is the form older relatives will know it by.
The bit that reduces the refund
"The taxable amount of some social welfare payments is taken into account when calculating tax refunds."
Jobseeker's Benefit is taxable. Jobseeker's Allowance is not. That difference is why two people who lost the same job in the same week can get very different refunds, and why the eight-week wait exists at all.
It is still worth claiming. A smaller refund is not no refund, and this money is genuinely yours rather than a payment you are applying for.
While you are in there
A tax refund claim opens the same screens as every other credit you may never have claimed. If you rented, the Rent Tax Credit is worth claiming and backdates four years. If you are self-employed, so is the Earned Income Credit.
And if the job loss is going to bite before the refund lands, the Additional Needs Payment exists for exactly that gap and does not require you to be on a welfare payment already.
Common questions
When can I claim a tax refund after losing my job?
Immediately if Emergency Tax was applied in your last employment, or if you are leaving Ireland permanently. Otherwise four weeks after becoming unemployed if you have no other taxable income, or eight weeks if you are receiving other taxable income such as Jobseeker's Benefit.
What is a Form P50?
It is the paper route for a first claim for a repayment of income tax and USC during unemployment. Revenue's guidance is to use myAccount and select 'Claim unemployment repayment', and to use Form P50 if you are not e-enabled.
Do I need anything from my old employer?
No. Your employer provides Revenue with your pay and tax details and your leaving date, so Revenue already holds what it needs to work out the refund.
Does Jobseeker's Benefit affect my refund?
Yes. The taxable amount of some social welfare payments is taken into account when calculating tax refunds, and Jobseeker's Benefit is taxable. That is also why the waiting period doubles from four weeks to eight.
Why am I owed tax back at all?
Because tax and credits are spread across the full year. If you stop earning part-way through, you have paid tax as though the wage would continue, and the excess is refundable.