Reviewed by: MyTaxRebate Team on 10 Mar 2026 | Authority: s.472 TCA 1997
Quick Answer
PAYE employees who take maternity leave, paternity leave, or parental leave in Ireland are among the groups most likely to be owed a significant tax refund. Under s.112 TCA 1997 (Schedule E), your full annual tax credits - including the Employee Tax Credit (s.472 TCA 1997, €1,875 in 2025) and Personal Tax Credit (€1,875 in 2025) - are issued at the start of the year based on your expected full income. When your income drops significantly during leave, your tax liability for the year drops too. But the PAYE deductions made on your salary in the months before leave are calculated on the assumption that you will earn at a full-year rate. The year-end calculation, which applies your full annual credits against your reduced annual income, typically produces a significant refund. This refund does not arise automatically - you must claim it. MyTaxRebate reviews your maternity or parental leave periods across all four claimable years and submits the consolidated claim to Revenue.
What This Page Covers
- ✓How maternity and parental leave creates a PAYE tax refund
- ✓How Maternity Benefit and PAYE tax credits interact
- ✓What additional reliefs can be claimed in a maternity leave year
- ✓How to claim for prior years of maternity or parental leave
- ✓How MyTaxRebate calculates and submits the refund claim
Key Facts at a Glance
- ✓Your full annual tax credits (€3,750 combined in 2025) apply even in a year when you were on leave and earning significantly less.
- ✓Maternity Benefit paid by the Department of Social Protection is taxable income - it is included in your annual income calculation.
- ✓The lower your total income in a maternity or parental leave year, the larger the proportion of your credits that exceeds your liability and converts to a refund.
- ✓Employer top-up payments during maternity leave are subject to PAYE - these are treated as salary for tax purposes.
- ✓Medical expenses from pregnancy, birth, and early post-natal care are deductible at 20% relief and can be included in the same claim.
- ✓Claims can be backdated for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 - the 2022 window closes permanently on 31 December 2026.
How Maternity Leave Creates a PAYE Refund
When you go on maternity leave, your income structure changes. You stop receiving your full salary and begin receiving Maternity Benefit from the Department of Social Protection. Your employer may or may not supplement this with a top-up payment. The total income you receive during the maternity period is typically lower than your normal full-salary income - sometimes significantly lower.
Your annual tax credits (€3,750 combined in 2025) do not change during maternity leave. They are your full-year entitlement. In a year where your total income is lower, your tax liability falls. But the PAYE deductions your employer made in the months before your leave were calculated on the assumption of a full salary throughout the year. When your income drops for several months, those months produce a lower liability than was being deducted - and the difference is owed to you as a refund.
Maternity Benefit and PAYE
Maternity Benefit is classified as taxable income by Revenue, even though it is paid by the Department of Social Protection and is not processed through payroll. This means Maternity Benefit increases your annual income figure in Revenue's calculation - but because it is not paid through your employer's payroll, no PAYE tax is deducted from it at source. The tax on the Maternity Benefit is instead collected through the PAYE system by reducing your tax credits or increasing the tax deducted from your salary in the year of payment. This adjustment can cause further complexity in the year-end calculation. MyTaxRebate accounts for Maternity Benefit correctly when calculating your refund position.
Check Your Claim
MyTaxRebate can review your position and guide the next step.
How MyTaxRebate Calculates Your Maternity Leave Refund
We review your income from salary, Maternity Benefit, and any employer top-up for the relevant years. We calculate the correct tax liability for each year of leave, apply your full annual credits, and determine the refund. We include all medical expenses from the relevant years in the same claim. We submit the consolidated claim to Revenue and manage all Revenue correspondence, including any information requests for medical expense documentation.
The Tax Position During Maternity and Parental Leave
Under s.112 TCA 1997 (which gives PAYE workers the statutory right to claim overpaid tax within four years), PAYE employment income is assessed as Schedule E income and your tax liability is calculated annually. During maternity leave, your earnings typically fall significantly: Department of Social Protection Maternity Benefit replaces your salary for the standard 26 weeks, and Maternity Benefit is taxable income - though it is not taxed through the PAYE system. Your employer pays tax on your behalf through PAYE for any period when your employer's salary applies. When your maternity benefit period begins and your employer's payroll stops (or is reduced), your credits continue to accumulate against a lower income - often creating unused credits that directly generate a refund entitlement.
The Employee Tax Credit (s.472 TCA 1997, €1,875 in 2025) and Personal Tax Credit (€1,875) are fixed annual amounts. If your income for a maternity-leave year was lower than in a normal year, these credits absorb a higher proportion of your liability - and if the credits exceed your liability, the difference is refundable. This is the primary mechanism behind maternity-leave refunds, and it applies regardless of whether the maternity benefit itself was included in your assessed income.
Additional Reliefs During a Maternity-Leave Year
A maternity-leave year often involves additional qualifying expenses: maternity-related hospital costs, consultant fees, and physiotherapy are all qualifying medical expenses at 20% relief. Baby-related medical costs in the postnatal period - paediatrician consultations, physiotherapy - are also qualifying medical expenses once they arise from a medical condition (not routine check-ups). These expenses add to the refund calculation for the relevant year. MyTaxRebate reviews all medical expenses incurred during a maternity-leave year as part of the four-year review, ensuring every available relief is captured.
Claiming for Parental and Maternity Leave Across Multiple Years
Workers who had maternity or parental leave in multiple years since 2022 have a cumulative entitlement across those years. Each year with a reduced-income period generates a separate refund calculation, and all years can be included in a single consolidated claim. The 2022 tax year closes permanently on 31 December 2026 - workers who took maternity or parental leave in 2022 and have not yet claimed that year's entitlement should act before the window closes. MyTaxRebate reviews all four years together, identifies the entitlement for each reduced-income period, and submits the complete claim in one operation.
MyTaxRebate reviews all four claimable years, identifies every reduced-income period including maternity and parental leave, and combines all applicable credits and reliefs in a single consolidated Revenue claim submitted entirely on your behalf.
MyTaxRebate reviews all four claimable years, identifies every reduced-income period including maternity and parental leave, and combines all applicable credits and reliefs in a single consolidated Revenue claim submitted entirely on your behalf.
Check Your Claim
MyTaxRebate can review your position and guide the next step.
Tax Scenarios
Six months' maternity leave - significant credit surplus
A primary school teacher on maternity leave from February to August 2023 received Maternity Benefit of approximately €9,100 and a reduced employer top-up. Her total 2023 income was €28,400 compared to her normal €42,000 salary. Her tax liability on €28,400 was €5,680 (at 20%), reduced to €1,930 after applying her €3,750 credits. The PAYE deducted on her salary in January 2023 at her full rate generated an overpayment, and her credits were not fully utilised against the year's lower liability. Her 2023 refund was €1,540.
Paternity leave - shorter period, still meaningful refund
A PAYE employee took the two weeks of statutory paternity leave in November 2024, receiving Paternity Benefit of approximately €640. His income gap plus the benefit adjustment produced a modest year-end overpayment of €290 for 2024. Combined with WFH relief and medical expenses claimed in the same submission, his total 2024 refund was €540.
Maternity expenses - four-year claim including leave year
A nurse had medical expenses from her maternity in 2023 (€1,200) and ongoing post-natal physio in 2024 (€640). MyTaxRebate included these in her four-year review alongside her maternity-year credit surplus. The combined four-year refund was €2,780, including €368 in medical expense relief across the two years.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- ✗Not claiming Maternity Benefit in the annual income calculation: Maternity Benefit is taxable and must be included in your total annual income - failing to account for it correctly can result in an incorrect refund calculation.
- ✗Missing maternity-year medical expenses: Healthcare costs during pregnancy, birth, and post-natal care frequently qualify for 20% relief. Request annual pharmacy statements and GP receipts before submitting the claim.
- ✗Claiming only the maternity leave year: If you had leave in 2022 or 2023 as well as more recently, all those years should be reviewed together - each generates a separate refund entitlement.
- ✗Assuming your employer corrected the overpayment mid-year: Some employers apply a cumulative catch-up when you return from leave, but this typically only corrects the period after your return - not the full-year credit surplus position.
When This Does Not Apply
Key Takeaways
- ➤ Maternity, paternity, and parental leave all typically create unused tax credits that convert to a refund.
- ➤ Your full annual credits (€3,750 in 2025) apply in a leave year - lower income means more of those credits exceed your liability.
- ➤ Maternity Benefit is taxable income - it must be included in the calculation correctly.
- ➤ Medical expenses from pregnancy and post-natal care are deductible at 20% and can be included in the same claim.
- ➤ MyTaxRebate reviews all leave years within the four-year window and submits a consolidated claim.
Check Your Claim
MyTaxRebate can review your position and guide the next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Maternity Benefit taxable in Ireland?
Yes. Revenue classifies Maternity Benefit (paid by the Department of Social Protection) as taxable income. While PAYE is not deducted from Maternity Benefit directly (as it is not paid through an employer), Revenue adjusts your tax credit certificate to recover the tax on Maternity Benefit through the PAYE system during the year. This can complicate the year-end calculation and is one of the reasons a professional review is recommended for maternity leave years.
Can I claim maternity-related medical expenses?
Yes. Many maternity-related medical expenses qualify for Revenue's health expenses relief at 20%, including: GP visits during pregnancy, midwife consultation fees, hospital costs (if not covered by health insurance), post-natal physiotherapy (with GP referral), and prescription costs. Routine maternity costs covered by the Maternity Care scheme are not additionally deductible, but out-of-pocket excess costs are. MyTaxRebate identifies all qualifying maternity medical expenses and includes them in the claim.
Can I claim for previous years of maternity leave?
Yes. Revenue's four-year backdating rule allows claims for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. If you were on maternity leave in 2022 or 2023 and did not claim a refund for those years, the overpayment from the unused credit position is still recoverable. The 2022 window closes permanently on 31 December 2026. MyTaxRebate reviews all eligible years in a single consolidated submission.
Does parent's leave also generate a refund?
Parent's leave (up to nine weeks available per parent from 2024) and paternity leave (two weeks) both create a reduction in employment income for the period of leave. For shorter leave periods, the year-end credit surplus may be smaller than for a six-month maternity leave, but it is still a recoverable amount. Where both maternity and parent's leave occur in the same year, both periods are reviewed together in the annual calculation.
What information does MyTaxRebate need to process a maternity leave claim?
We access your Revenue records directly to confirm your employment income, Maternity Benefit received, and tax deducted for each relevant year. You will be asked to confirm the dates of your leave and any employer top-up arrangements. For medical expenses, annual pharmacy statements and any maternity-related receipts or invoices are helpful. We advise specifically on what documentation is needed based on your individual claim once we have reviewed your records.
