Periods of unemployment
Taxation of short-term jobseekers claims
Certain employees working in the education sector, for example, Special Needs Assistants, may qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit payments during the school holidays. These payments are liable to Income Tax, but not to Universal Social Charge (USC) or Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).
In order to collect the correct amount of Income Tax due, it is necessary to annualise your first Jobseeker's Benefit payment. Your tax credits and rate bands will be reduced on a Week 1 Basis.
A new Tax Credit Certificate (TCC) will issue to you showing these changes. We will also make a revised Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) available to your employer showing amended total tax credits and rate bands.
We will receive a notification when your claim is closed from the Department of Social Protection (DSP). We will then restore your normal tax credits and rate band, and send you a new TCC. A new RPN will also be made available to your employer.
For further information, please see Taxation of social welfare payments.
Note
The exchange of information between Revenue and the DSP takes place on a weekly basis. There may be a short delay in the updating of Jobseeker’s Benefit payment information to your Revenue record.