Class S PRSI

What is Class S PRSI?

Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions are deducted from your income and used to fund social welfare benefits and pensions.

Your rate of PRSI depends on your social insurance class.

If you are self-employed, you pay Class S PRSI. PRSI for self-employed people was introduced in 1988.

Who pays Class S PRSI?

People who pay Class S include:

  • Farmers
  • Professional people (for example, doctors, dentists, and solicitors)
  • Certain company directors
  • People in business on their own (sole traders) or in partnerships
  • People with income from investments, rents, or maintenance payments
  • Certain artists and childminders who are exempt from income tax

Employees who are also self-employed in a trade or profession pay Class S PRSI on that income, as well as their Class A PRSI contribution as an employee.

Read more about who is classed as self-employed on Gov.ie.

Social welfare payments covered by Class S PRSI

Class S contributions only cover you for a limited number of payments. In general, you are not covered for any short-term payments, such as illness and disability payments.

If you pay Class S contributions and you meet all the other conditions for the payment, you may be entitled to:

Read more about PRSI for the self-employed in the Department of Social Protection’s leaflet (pdf).

Class S PRSI and State Pension (Contributory)

You cannot claim your State Pension (Contributory) until all outstanding payments have been made.

If you are aged over 66 and still owe Class S PRSI contributions, your State Pension (Contributory) will only be paid from the date that you have paid:

  • All outstanding contributions, and
  • Any outstanding income taxes in full

How much Class S PRSI do I pay?

If you are aged between 16 and pension age (currently 66), you pay Class S PRSI of 4% on your total income for tax purposes. Your total income is your gross income less allowable expenses.

You must pay 4% of your total income or €500, whichever is greater.

If have been told by an Inspector of Taxes that you do not need to make a tax return, but you earn more than €5,000 in a year, you pay a flat rate contribution of €300 to the Department of Social Protection.

If you earn less than €5,000 from self-employment in a year, you are exempt from PRSI, but you may pay €500 as a voluntary contributor (if you meet the other conditions).

If you help your spouse or civil partner with running the family business, but you are not their employee, you pay Class S contributions. Read more about employing family members and PRSI.

How your PRSI contributions are recorded

If you are self-employed, you pay Class S social insurance contributions directly to Revenue, when you send in your tax returns for the year.

Revenue then pays the money into the Social Insurance Fund, and sends a record of the contributions you have paid to the Department of Social Protection.

You can request a copy of your complete PRSI record online at MyWelfare.ie. If you have difficulty using this online facility, you can contact the PRSI Records section for assistance (see 'More information' below).

Note that you pay Class S contributions in an annual payment for your full tax year. There is no mechanism for awarding credits for a full year or part of a year.

Registering for PRSI

When you take up self-employment, you should tell Revenue that you are now self-employed and you wish to register for self-assessment. You can register with Revenue as a self-employed sole trader online.

Certain people can only register using the paper form: Form TR1 - Tax Registration form for Sole Traders, Trusts and Partnerships (pdf).

When you register for self-assessment with Revenue, you will automatically be registered for PRSI purposes with the Department of Social Protection.

You can also register as an employer for PAYE using Revenue’s online service, if you need to do so at this stage.

More information

If you have questions about your PRSI, you can:

You can also contact your local Intreo office, or your local Citizens Information Centre.

PRSI Records

Department of Social Protection

McCarter's Road
Ardaravan
Buncrana
Donegal
Ireland

Tel: (01) 471 5898 or 0818 690 690
Page edited: 12 March 2024