Tax Refunds for Ukrainian Workers in Ireland: What You're Owed
If you've been working in Ireland since arriving — in a hotel, a restaurant, a shop, a factory, a care home or on a site — there's a strong chance Revenue is holding money that belongs to you.
It usually isn't a small amount. In the example below, someone who worked two short jobs in one year gets back €5,880, because their correct tax bill for that year was zero. Every euro deducted comes back.
Nobody will contact you about this. Ireland's tax system deducts as you're paid and then stops; anything you're owed has to be claimed. You have four years to do it, and this guide explains how.
Українська версія цього посібника доступна.
Temporary Protection gives you the same tax rights as anyone else
If you've been granted Temporary Protection under the EU Directive, you can work in Ireland immediately, without a permit, and you have the full range of statutory employment rights in exactly the same way as an Irish worker.
For tax, the position is the same. Irish tax residence is decided by days spent in the country — 183 or more in a tax year, or 280 across the current and previous year provided you were here more than 30 days in the current one. Your permission is not part of that test.
That means the same tax credits (currently €2,000 personal plus €2,000 employee, €4,000 in total), the same rate bands, the same reliefs, and the same right to a refund. Revenue's rules are on its tax residence page, and Revenue also publishes a dedicated section of guidance for Ukrainian nationals working in Ireland.
Claiming a refund does not affect your Temporary Protection status. They're administered by different bodies under different rules, and filing an accurate tax return is simply the ordinary use of the system.
Your PPSN comes from Intreo — not online
This is the one instruction that's different for you than for everyone else, and getting it wrong wastes weeks.
Do not apply for a PPSN online. Special arrangements were put in place: you go to your local Intreo Centre or Branch Office, bringing the permission letter from the Department of Justice confirming your Temporary Protection. Staff there process it as a priority.
Without a PPSN, an employer must deduct 40% of your pay from the very first payslip, with no rate band and no tax credits, plus emergency USC at 8%. That's not a penalty and the money isn't lost — but it's why first payslips are so much smaller than expected.
There's a second step that catches almost everyone. For your first job in Ireland, you register the employment yourself in myAccount, using your employer's registration number from your payslip. Your employer cannot do it for you. For any later job, the employer registers it. People wait months for someone else to fix something only they can fix. The full mechanics are in emergency tax in Ireland.
What a refund actually looks like
Two short jobs in one year is the most common pattern we see, and it produces the largest overpayments.
Say you arrived and worked from March to June in one job at €2,000 a month, then from September to December in another at €2,200 a month. Neither employment was registered promptly, so emergency tax applied in both.
What was deducted:
| Period | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Job 1, first month | €2,000 × 20% | €400.00 |
| Job 1, months 2–4 | €2,000 × 40% × 3 | €2,400.00 |
| Job 2, first month | €2,200 × 20% | €440.00 |
| Job 2, months 2–4 | €2,200 × 40% × 3 | €2,640.00 |
| Total deducted | €5,880.00 |
What you actually owed:
| Calculation | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Total income for the year | €8,000 + €8,800 | €16,800.00 |
| Tax at 20% (well inside the €44,000 band) | €16,800 × 20% | €3,360.00 |
| Less full-year credits | €2,000 + €2,000 | −€4,000.00 |
| Correct liability | credits exceed the tax due | €0.00 |
Refund: €5,880.
Read that middle table again, because it's the part people don't believe. Your tax credits for a full year come to €4,000. The tax on €16,800 of income is €3,360. The credits cover the entire bill. You should have paid nothing at all.
This is why people on lower wages and shorter work years often have the largest refunds relative to what they earned — not the smallest. And it repeats: if the same thing happened in more than one year, each year is a separate claim.
If you work remotely for a Ukrainian employer
This is specific to your situation and worth reading carefully.
Revenue has operated a concession for people who came to Ireland because of the war and continue to be employed by their Ukrainian employer, performing those duties remotely from here. Under it, that Ukrainian employment income is treated as not liable to Irish Income Tax and USC, provided the employee remains subject to Ukrainian income tax on it. The concession applies only to employment income paid by the Ukrainian employer — not to any other income.
One important caution. The concessionary treatment as published applied to the tax years 2022 to 2024 inclusive. We have not been able to confirm whether it has been extended beyond that, and it matters a great deal if you're still in this position. Check the current position directly with Revenue or with us before assuming it still applies to a later year. Getting this wrong in either direction is expensive: assuming it applies when it doesn't leaves you with unpaid Irish tax, and assuming it doesn't when it does means paying tax twice.
Separately, Ireland and Ukraine have a double taxation convention, signed at Kyiv on 19 April 2013, which is the general mechanism for preventing the same income being taxed twice. Like every treaty, relief under it is claimed and evidenced rather than applied automatically.
If you have both a Ukrainian remote job and an Irish job, that combination needs proper handling — it's exactly the position our VIP Premium service covers.
What you can and can't claim
Being straight with you about both sides.
You probably can claim:
- Emergency tax overpayments, as above.
- Medical and dental expenses at 20%, for anything you paid yourself and weren't reimbursed for. Non-routine dental needs a Form Med 2 from your dentist. See medical expenses tax relief.
- Flat Rate Expenses for your occupation — fixed annual allowances requiring no receipts, covering hospitality, retail, care work, manufacturing and construction among hundreds of others. Search "Flat Rate Expenses" on revenue.ie for your exact job and sub-category.
- Joint assessment, if you're married and your spouse earns much less or isn't working. It has to be elected with Revenue.
You probably cannot claim the Rent Tax Credit if the State is providing your accommodation. The credit is not available where you're in local authority or approved housing body accommodation, or receiving housing supports such as HAP — and that holds even if you make a payment yourself on top. If you're renting privately from a landlord in the ordinary way, you may qualify: see the Rent Tax Credit guide.
The wider list is in the top Irish tax deductions you could be missing.
What you need before you claim
- Your PPSN.
- myAccount access — you register with your PPSN, date of birth, and either MyGovID or a verification code Revenue posts to you.
- Your IBAN entered in your Revenue profile. Revenue pays by bank transfer only, never by cheque. A closed account is the most common reason a refund stalls after approval.
- Your Employment Detail Summary for each year, downloadable from myAccount.
That last point solves the objection we hear most: you do not need your old payslips. The Employment Detail Summary is built from what each employer reported to Revenue directly, so the record exists even if the hotel closed, the agency shut down, or you never received a payslip at all. Log in and download one for each year.
If you'd rather not do this in a second language, our Tax Back service reviews every open year and files the returns. No refund, no fee — so it costs you nothing if there's nothing to claim.
Four years, and one deadline
You can claim back four years at once. As of 2026 that means 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 are all open, and each needs its own return.
The 2022 year closes permanently on 31 December 2026. After that, whatever you were owed for 2022 is gone.
If you worked in Ireland in 2022 — even for a few months, even in a job you left quickly — that's the year to start with.
And if you're planning to return to Ukraine or move elsewhere, claim before you go, while you still have an Irish bank account and access to myAccount. myAccount works from anywhere in the world, but opening or reinstating an Irish bank account from abroad does not. See leaving Ireland and the refund you might be owed.
Questions we get asked
Will claiming a tax refund affect my Temporary Protection or my accommodation?
No. Tax and immigration are handled by different bodies under different rules, and a tax refund is money you already paid being returned. Filing an accurate return is the normal, expected use of the system.
I only worked a few months. Is it worth claiming?
That's usually when it's worth the most. Your tax credits are calculated for a full year but you only earned in part of it, so the credits often cover your entire liability — meaning everything deducted comes back.
I don't have payslips from my old jobs.
You don't need them. Your Employment Detail Summary in myAccount comes from what employers reported to Revenue directly.
I work remotely for my employer in Ukraine. Do I owe Irish tax?
There has been a Revenue concession treating that income as not liable to Irish Income Tax and USC, where you remain subject to Ukrainian income tax on it — but as published it covered 2022 to 2024. Confirm the current position before assuming it applies to a later year, rather than finding out afterwards.
Can I claim the Rent Tax Credit?
Only if you're renting privately. State-provided accommodation and housing supports such as HAP rule it out, including where you contribute something yourself.
Can I still claim if I've left Ireland?
Yes, within four years of the end of each tax year, and myAccount works from anywhere. Sort out payable bank details before you file — that's the part that becomes difficult after you've gone.
If you worked in Ireland at any point in 2022, start there. It's the year with a deadline on it, and it's the one most likely to have a full refund sitting in it.