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Bonus tax calculator

2026 and 2027 rates

See what a bonus or overtime payment adds to your take-home pay, and how the payslip in the month it is paid can look.

Tax year
Extra pay
Bonus as
Tax status
Bonus after tax 
What the extra pay is worth over the year
Your payslip in March
NormalBonus month

 

This is an estimate for general information, based on the rates and rules described on this page. It is not financial, tax or legal advice and does not take account of your full circumstances. Check your own position with Revenue or a qualified tax adviser before making a decision. Terms of use.

Illustration for the bonus tax calculator

Worked example

Single, €35,000 salary, €5,000 bonus paid in March 2026. Over the year the bonus adds €1,000.00 income tax, €150.00 USC and €211.87 PRSI. You keep €3,638.13, and 27.2% goes in deductions. Income of €40,000 stays inside the €44,000 band, so none of it is taxed at 40%.

The March payslip tells a different story. By March only three twelfths of the band, €11,000, has built up, but pay to date is €13,750. The difference is taxed at 40%, so March takes €1,910.00 off the bonus (38.2%). The extra comes back through lower tax from April to December. Paid in December, the payslip takes €1,367.50.

How bonus tax is calculated

A bonus is added to your pay and taxed in the same way. The calculator works out your income tax, USC and PRSI for the year with and without the bonus, using the same calculation as the take-home pay calculator. The difference is what the bonus costs you in deductions, and the rest is what you keep.

The cumulative basis

Payroll gives you one twelfth of your yearly tax credits and standard rate band each month (one fifty-second each week), and keeps a running total. In the month of the bonus, tax due to date is worked out on all pay to date against the band and credits built up so far, less the tax already paid. USC works the same way with its own bands: income above €70,044 a year is charged at 8%, and that cut-off also builds up month by month. PRSI is charged on each pay period by itself, so a bonus month has PRSI on the whole of that month's pay.

Overtime

Overtime pay is the hours times your basic hourly rate times the overtime multiplier. If you leave the hourly rate empty, the calculator uses your salary divided by 52 weeks of 39 hours. If you work overtime every month, enter how many times a year; the payslip view shows one month with overtime.

What is not included

  • Pension contributions, benefit in kind and other credits, such as the rent tax credit. These change your band or credits but not the way a bonus is taxed.
  • Weekly or fortnightly pay: the payslip view assumes monthly pay.
  • A second job, or a bonus paid after you leave a job (taxed through your P45 figures).

Sources

Rates last checked 10 October 2026. Every figure is listed on rates and sources.

Figures marked as announced come from Budget 2027 and are not law until the Finance Act or Social Welfare Act that brings them in is passed.

Questions

How much tax will I pay on my bonus?
A bonus is taxed as ordinary pay: income tax at 20% or 40%, USC and PRSI. If your salary is already above the standard rate band (€44,000 for a single person in 2026), most of a bonus is taxed at 40% plus 3% USC and PRSI, so you keep a little over half of it. A single person on €60,000 keeps €2,638 of a €5,000 bonus.
Why does my bonus payslip show so much tax?
Payroll uses the cumulative basis: by each payday you have built up only that share of the year's tax credits and standard rate band. A large bonus early in the year can use up the band built up so far, so part of it is taxed at 40% even if your income for the year stays under the band. The tax is not lost: the following payslips take less tax until the year evens out.
Is there a special bonus tax rate in Ireland?
No. Cash bonuses, commission and overtime are added to your pay in the period they are paid and taxed with it. The only tax-free bonus is the small benefit exemption for vouchers or non-cash gifts from your employer, within the yearly limits Revenue sets.
Does a bonus push all my income into the higher rate?
No. Only the part of your income above the standard rate band is taxed at 40%. A bonus that takes you over the band is taxed at 20% up to the band and 40% on the rest.
How is overtime taxed?
Overtime is pay like any other: hours times your hourly rate times the overtime multiplier (for example 1.5 for time and a half), added to that week or month and taxed under the cumulative basis.
Can I pay my bonus into a pension to save tax?
Some employers let you put a bonus into the company pension. Employee contributions get income tax relief within age-related limits, but USC and PRSI are still charged. An employer contribution to a pension is not taxed as your pay. See the pension tax relief calculator.

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