The Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) is a real-time system from the Irish Revenue that provides employers with up-to-date tax information for each employee, including tax credits, cut-off points, and USC rates.
This system automatically updates employee tax details as circumstances change, ensuring accurate tax calculations throughout the employment period.
When managing employee changes such as departures, rehires, and temporary rejoiners, it is essential to follow specific procedures to maintain tax compliance and ensure accurate tax calculations.
Leavers
When an employee leaves the organisation, the payroll submission file will notify Revenue during the employee's last pay period. Consequently, Revenue will update the employee's RPN details.
After processing a leaver in CoreHR, the employee will no longer appear in the RPN retrieval system.
Rejoiners
When rehiring an employee, there are two scenarios to consider regarding RPN based on how the rejoiner is set up in CoreHR:
Rejoin the employee with their existing employee number (recommended)
This process reactivates the existing employee record.
A rejoin date (the new start date) is recorded.
Their RPN will be retrieved using the Retrieve New Employee RPNs process.
A new Employment ID will be created (valid characters for Employment ID are [A-Za-z0-9_\-]).
The employee will not appear on the submission file with the latest start date until after their first payment.
Create a new employee record (not recommended)
If a new employee number is generated in CoreHR for the returning employee, they will be treated as a new employee.
A new employee number is created.
Their RPN will be retrieved via the Retrieve New Employee RPNs process.
A new Employment ID will be created (valid characters for Employment ID are [A-Za-z0-9_\-]).
Temporary rejoiners
The process for retrieving RPNs for temporary rejoiners differs based on whether the payroll period falls in the same year or the previous year.
For a temporary rejoiner in the same year:
Retrieve the employee RPN.
Enter the company or employee reference.
Use the most recent Employment ID for RPN retrieval; this will not be treated as new employment.
If the employee receives a payment after they have left, it will appear on the normal submission file with an end date equal to the employee's leave date and a blank start date.
📌Note: When retrieving RPNs at the employee level, the company last updated field is unavailable.
When retrieving RPNs at the company level, the employee reference will be blank, and the company last updated will default.
If no RPN is returned, the employee will be placed on emergency tax at the updated RPN step.
For a temporary rejoiner in the previous year:
Retrieve the new employee RPN.
Enter the company or employee reference.
This scenario is treated as new employment, resulting in the generation of a new employment ID (valid characters for Employment ID are [A-Za-z0-9_\-]).
If the employee receives a payment after cessation, it will appear on the normal submission file with start and end dates that match the pay date.
If no RPN is returned, the employee will be placed on emergency tax at the update RPN step.
In this situation, the employee is treated as having a new employment if:
Temporary rejoin or pay leavers is set.
The employee left in the previous year.
A new Employment ID is requested during the Retrieve New Employee RPN step (valid characters for Employment ID are [A-Za-z0-9_\-]).
The start and end dates on the payroll submission file match the pay date for this one-day payment. This informs Revenue about the one-day employment.