Working for Work 16th Edition 2009 Chapter 5 - page 87
Widower's pension, One-Parent Family payment or Deserted Wife's Benefit / Allowance. Other PRSI rates apply to Community Employment (C.E.) participants.
Once you are earning more than €38.00 per week you will still get a Class A PRSI Contribution or "stamp" as your employer will be paying social insurance for you.
Example PRSI on earnings of €400 gross per week
Gross weekly earnings €400.00
Less weekly PRSI allowance - €127.00
Assessable earnings €273.00
Your PRSI contribution (4% of €273) = €10.92
The Health Contribution
If you earn over €500 gross per week you have to pay the health contribution in addition to your PRSI and tax. This levy is based on your gross income. From May 1st 2009 the new Health Levy rates are:
Lower rate: 4% on income from €26,000 to €75,036
Higher rate: 5% on income over €5,036
Certain categories of people do not pay the health contribution. They are:
- Medical Card holders
- Those in receipt of the One Parent Family Payment (OPFP), Widow/Widower's Pension or Deserted Wife's Benefit
* Make sure you let your employer know if you are in receipt of any of the above payments/benefits otherwise you may have the contribution taken from your wages. You should check that your employer is aware that you do not have to pay the health contribution if you have any of the above payments/ benefits.
Tax and Social Welfare
Many social welfare payments are treated as taxable income. This means that if you, or your spouse/partner, earn any extra income your social welfare payment will use up either all, or some, of your tax credits.
The main social welfare payments that ARE taxable are:
- Jobseeker's Benefit - One Parent Family Payment
- Illness Benefit - Invalidity Pension
- Blind Pension - Deserted Wife's Benefit
- State Pension Contributory/ Non-Contributory - State Pension (Transition)
- Guardian's Payment Contributory/ Non-Contributory
