Once you have a PPS number and a job you should immediately apply for tax credits otherwise you will be taxed on Emergency tax which is far not that generous as your later assigned tax bracket would be.

Tax credits are the part of your income on which you are not liable for tax. In other words, you do not pay tax on all of your income and you can earn or receive a certain amount of income before you begin to pay tax. What this amount will be, depends on the value of your tax credits.

Tax credits consist of various allowances and reliefs which you may be able to claim, depending on your circumstances. (Every individual can claim a personal allowance for example, and you can also claim relief for items such as private health insurance premiums, mortgage interest etc.). Details of all the main allowances and reliefs (including the amount due for the current year) are given on the explanatory leaflet issued to you each year from the Revenue Commissioners with your certificate of tax credits.

To apply for a certificate of tax credits. You will need to complete an application form to do this. You can ask your employer for a form 12A and they will let you know which tax office your completed form should be sent to. If your employer does not have a form 12A, you can download it from here:


Download form 12A