Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
256. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the resolution of an issue that resulted in additional taxes being paid by substitute teachers in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18447/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department issues salary and pension payments to approximately 120,000 payees per fortnight on four payrolls: primary teachers, post primary teachers, non-teaching staff and retired teachers, spouses and children.
The Revenue Commissioners introduced real time PAYE (PAYE modernisation) from 1 January 2019. This was the biggest change to the PAYE system since the 1960s. Under the new system, from 1 January 2019, employers are required to report their employees’ pay and statutory deductions to Revenue for each payroll issue.
The issue that arose in January in relation to the taxation of substitute staff has been resolved and amended RPNs have been applied to the people involved.
Revenue has advised the Department that they have checked and reallocated credits and rate bands to the DES employment where appropriate. They have also advised that there are still substitute payees with zero credits. These payees have other employments and / or taxable income and their tax credits may be allocated to other employments or income streams. Where staff have complex employment circumstances, they should engage individually with Revenue to assign credits to various employments to prevent underpayment of tax during the year.
