17 December, 2021

Copy of Email Sent to to All Staff on Cork Sites 

17th December 2021

You are receiving this email because you have been impacted by a taxation issue in 2020 which has resulted in the underpayment of Income Tax.

What is the Issue ?

Due to the merger, the pay day for the final weeks of the year in 2020 was moved from Friday 1st January 2021 to Thursday 31st December 2020. This resulted in 53 pay days for weekly staff in Cork. In normal circumstances when there are 53 weeks in a year the Revenue provide for an increase in pay bands and tax credits for this week to compensate. The Revenue did not however, apply this change which resulted in a significant number of staff having a under payment of income tax for 2020.

Who is impacted by this issue?

Staff of the Weekly Payroll in Cork, that did not have unused tax credits.

What actions did we take?

The University queried this with Revenue who indicated that they would not allow the week 53 to apply because the pay date had changed and the legislation specifically excluded applying a week 53 in these circumstances. We subsequently sought independent tax advice and appealed the Revenues decision on the basis of the unique circumstances. This appeal was not successful. We then sought to make a payment directly to Revenue for the shortfall on behalf of staff, but this was not accepted by Revenue due to the manual nature of adjustments that would need to be applied.

How are we going to address the problem ?

The unique circumstances that led to this issue and the strict legislation covering 53 pay weeks, meant that the staff impacted are disadvantaged. The University has decided to make an additional payments to staff impacted. Where possible the amount of the tax liability for 2020 has been calculated and we have grossed up this figure, to ensure that the net pay (after tax) is roughly the amount due.

When will this be applied and how much is it ?

This is being paid in Week 52 this year, due for payment on 30th December. The gross amount will show up as a separate line on your payslip called ‘Week 53 Adj.’ The amount will vary by person depending on your pay and specific tax credits etc. In some instances it is a few euro, whilst in others is €200 - €300. The difference in your net pay is roughly the amount of tax owed in 2020. Your can log on now to check your payslip using your Core Portal Account. Link: https://my.corehr.com/pls/coreportal_mtup/cp_por_public_main_page.display_login_page

What do I do now?

You can check you tax record on MyAccount on the Revenue website which will show any amount due. You can make a payment to the Revenue, or in many cases the Revenue will adjust your tax credits for next year to recover the amount due over four years. Information is available from the Revenue https://www.revenue.ie/en/jobs-and-pensions/end-of-year-process/what-to-do-in-an-underpayment-position.aspx