Setting Up Pension Deductions


As a result of the Pensions Act (amendment) 2002, employers in Ireland are obliged to set up at least one Standard PRSA (Personal Retirement Savings Account) arrangement for their employees, if:

  • you operate a pension scheme but you restrict who can join the scheme or you have imposed a waiting period to join the scheme for more than 6 months

  • you operate a pension scheme for your employees, but the scheme does not offer any facility to make any additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) to top up their retirement benefits


Employers are also required by law to:


  • Notify excluded employees of their right to contribute to a PRSA by payroll deduction

  • For employees who wish to contribute, deduct employee contributions from wages and remit to their PRSA

  • Allow institutions and intermediaries who promote PRSAs, access to your excluded employees at the workplace for the purpose of taking out a standard PRSA

  • Allow excluded employees reasonable paid leave to enable them to make arrangements to take out a Standard PRSA

  • Remit to the institution operating PRSA employees' contributions deducted within 21 days of the end of the month in which the deduction is made. Employers cannot make any deduction from these contributions; they must be paid over in full to the pension provider

  • Notify employees each month of the PRSA contributions deducted from their wages and any contributions the employer makes to their PRSAs during the previous month (This can be done through the employees' payslips)
 


Pension Relief

 

Subject to Net Relevant Earnings thresholds, employees receive relief for PAYE on their pension contributions. Pension contributions do not attract relief from Universal Social Charge or PRSI.


AGE                                         % of Net relevant earnings

Under 30 years of age                                15%

30-39 years of age                                      20%

40-49 years of age                                      25%

50 to 54 years of age                                  30%

55 to 59 years of age                                  35%

60 years and over                                       40%

 

 
To set up pension deductions for an employee, simply go to Add/Amend Employees > select the Employee > select their 'Deductions' tab.



To enter a Pension Deduction by amount:

  
  • Under Pension Details, enter the pension scheme reference (if applicable) or select an existing scheme reference number from the drop down menu. A scheme reference is contained in policy documents and is usually no greater than 10 characters in length.

  • Enter amount for employee's contribution in the box provided

  • Enter amount for employer's contribution in the box provided, if applicable

  • Indicate the Pension type by ticking the appropriate box:

    •             RBS: Retirement Benefit Scheme

    •             PRSA: Personal Retirement Savings Account

    •             RAC: Retirement Annuity Contract

  • The total amount entered will be deducted from the employee's weekly/fortnightly/monthly gross pay as appropriate.

Please Note: a scheme number must be entered otherwise the pension report will not copy to disk. There is no facility to allocate scheme numbers to already updated payroll.

 

 

To enter a Percentage Pension Deduction:

 
 
  • Under Pension Details, enter the pension scheme reference (if applicable) or select an existing scheme reference number from the drop down menu. A scheme reference is contained in policy documents and is usually no greater than 10 characters in length.

  • Enter employee's percentage of gross salary to be deducted in the box provided

  • Enter employer's percentage of gross salary to be deducted in the box provided, if applicable

  • Indicate the Pension type by ticking the appropriate box:

    • RBS: Retirement Benefit Scheme

    • PRSA: Personal Retirement Savings Account

    • RAC: Retirement Annuity Contract

  • The percentages entered will be applied to the employee's weekly/fortnightly/monthly gross pay as appropriate.

* Please Note: a scheme number must be entered otherwise the pension report will not copy to disk. There is no facility to allocate scheme numbers to already updated payroll.
 
 



To enter AVC Contributions

 
An AVC is any Additional Voluntary Contributions made by the employee to a pension scheme. As a result of the Pensions Act (Amendment) 2002, you will be required to facilitate an employee wishing to make an Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) to their pension.

  • Enter AVC amount (tick if AVC amount entered is a percentage)

  • Click Update

  • Remember to zero-ise the AVC amount in the next pay period
 


 

To Enter a Contribution to a Second Scheme

 

  • Click Additional

  • Under the section Other scheme, choose a scheme reference from the drop down menu or type in a new scheme reference. A scheme number must be entered for the secondary contributions otherwise the pension report will not copy to disk. 

  • Enter the applicable pension amounts  under Ordinary or AVC

  •  Click Update to save second pension scheme

 

Please note that the percentage basis of pension deduction will no longer work for this employee if amounts are input in this section.


ORDINARY

This refers to RBS/PRSA/RAC contributions made to a 2nd scheme in addition to the main scheme. The employee and employer (if applicable) contributions are entered as the weekly, fortnightly or monthly contribution amounts. The employee amount entered is deducted from their weekly, fortnightly or monthly gross pay as appropriate.

AVC

This refers to any Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) made by the employee to a pension scheme.

 


To Enter a CWPS Pension

 

Please click here for assistance with this.

 

 

To Enter a NECI Pension

Please click here for assistance with this. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Need help? Support is available at 01 8352074 or thesauruspayrollsupport@brightsg.com.

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