PPS number, MyGovID and Revenue myAccount: your first weeks in Ireland

Before you can be paid properly, see a doctor on the public system or swap your driving licence, you need a seven-digit number with a letter or two on the end.

The short version

• The Personal Public Service (PPS) number is your key to tax, welfare and public services in Ireland. Think of it as your National Insurance number and tax reference rolled into one [1].
• You can only apply once you're living in Ireland. Apply online through MyWelfare with a basic MyGovID account, then go to an in-person appointment [1].
• As a UK citizen you need your passport (or birth certificate plus full driving licence) and proof of a Dublin address less than three months old [1].
• Register your first job in Revenue myAccount straight away, or your employer will put you on emergency tax: 40% income tax after the first few weeks plus 8% emergency USC [3][4][5].
• Once you have the PPS number and a verified MyGovID, the rest opens up: driving licence exchange, Local Property Tax, the vote and more [2].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002), rounded.

What the PPS number is for

A PPS number is always seven numbers followed by one or two letters [1]. You'll be asked for it by:

• Revenue, when you start work
• the Department of Social Protection, for any welfare payment or PRSI record
• the HSE, for public health services, the medical card and the Drugs Payment Scheme
• schools and colleges, when you register
• the NDLS, for driving licences and the driver theory test [1]

What it isn't: something an employer should ask for when you're job-hunting. Citizens Information says employers should only ask for it once you're actually starting the job [1]. And like your NI number back home, guard it. Don't hand it out to anyone who asks.

Step by step: getting your PPS number

1. Get a basic MyGovID

MyGovID is the Irish government's single login, a bit like GOV.UK One Login. A basic account needs only an email address and a password, and it's enough to book a PPS number appointment [2].

2. Find a proof of address

This is the chicken-and-egg bit. You need a document with your name and Dublin address, no more than three months old [1]. Accepted documents include:

• a household utility bill
• an official letter
• a bank statement
• a lease or tenancy agreement
• a letter from a hotel or hostel manager, school principal or landlord confirming your address [1]

Staying with friends? Their household bill plus a note from them confirming you live there will do [1]. Your tenancy agreement is usually the quickest option if you've found a flat. Our guide to renting in Dublin covers leases and registration with the RTB.

3. Apply online and book the appointment

Log in to MyWelfare with your MyGovID, fill in the PPS number application, and book an in-person appointment at a PPS Number Allocation Centre [1]. For UK citizens, the identity document is your current passport, or your birth certificate showing your mother's birth name plus your current full driving licence [1].

You can't apply before you move. Citizens Information says plainly that you must wait until you're in Ireland if you're relocating here [1].

4. Wait for the post

Once the appointment is done, your PPS number arrives by post [1]. Allow time for it in your plans, especially if you're starting a job straight away.

Revenue myAccount and avoiding emergency tax

Ireland runs PAYE much like the UK. Your employer gets a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN), which works like a tax code: it tells them your tax credits and rate band, so they deduct the right Income Tax and Universal Social Charge (USC) [4].

If Revenue hasn't issued an RPN for you, your employer has to use emergency tax [3].

How to avoid it

1. Give your employer your PPS number as soon as you have it [3].
2. Register for myAccount on revenue.ie with your PPS number.
3. Add your first job. In myAccount, go to "PAYE Services" and choose "Add Job or Pension Details". You'll need your employer's Tax Registration Number, which looks like a PPS number [4].

After your first Irish job, future employers register new jobs for you [4].

What emergency tax looks like [5]

Revenue's own example: someone earning €800 a week (about £667) with no PPS number given would pay €320 (about £267) in income tax every week, before USC [5]. You'll get the overpayment back once your RPN arrives, but it's an expensive few weeks.

What you should be paying

For 2026, a single person pays 20% on the first €44,000 (about £36,700) and 40% above that. Most employees get a personal tax credit of €2,000 and an employee (PAYE) tax credit of €2,000, about £1,670 each, which come straight off the tax bill [6]. Rates for 2027 were announced in the Budget on 6 October 2026 [6]. On top of income tax come USC and PRSI, Ireland's version of National Insurance. Our guide to Ireland taxes for Brits explains all three.

Verified MyGovID and the Public Services Card

A basic MyGovID gets you started. A verified MyGovID adds two-step login by text message and gives you access to the full list of online services [2]. You need it to apply online for a driving licence or learner permit and for the National Childcare Scheme. It also lets you manage your Revenue PAYE account, pay Local Property Tax, register to vote, apply for an Irish passport and book a driving test [2].

You can verify online if you have a Public Services Card (PSC) and PPS number, or verify through the MyGovID app or in person at a PSC centre [2]. The PSC is a photo identity card issued by the Department of Social Protection, and your PPS number is printed on it [1].

Your first-weeks checklist

Once the PPS number lands, work through the rest:

1. Register your job in Revenue myAccount (above).
2. Open an Irish bank account. Many employers and landlords want a euro IBAN. Our guide to banking in Ireland as a Brit covers what banks ask for.
3. Register with a GP. Most adults pay to see a GP unless they have a medical card or GP visit card. See healthcare in Dublin.
4. Swap your UK driving licence. Once you're resident you can't keep driving on it; exchange it through the NDLS with a check code from the DVLA [7].
5. Get a Leap Card for buses, the Luas and DART. Our getting around Dublin guide has the fares.
6. Register to vote. UK citizens can vote in Dáil and local elections [8].
7. Tidy up back home. Tell HMRC you've left with form P85 if you were a UK employee, check your UK pension and student loan, and decide what to do with your UK bank account and phone number. Our guide to leaving the UK and telling HMRC walks through it.

None of this is hard, but it's a faff if you do it in the wrong order. The usual sequence is address, then PPS number, then everything else.

If you're stuck on any of it, ask in our community group for Brits in Ireland, here. Someone will have queued at the same office last month.

Sources

1. Citizens Information: Personal Public Service (PPS) number (page edited 5 August 2026)
2. Citizens Information: MyGovID
3. Revenue: Emergency Tax (published 24 February 2026)
4. Revenue: Starting your first job (published 31 August 2026)
5. Revenue: Emergency Tax rules (published 24 February 2026)
6. Revenue: Tax rates, bands and reliefs
7. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Ireland
8. Citizens Information: Residence rights of UK citizens

Keep reading

• Moving to Dublin as a Brit
• Ireland taxes for Brits
• Banking in Ireland as a Brit
• Leaving the UK: telling HMRC, the P85 and your last tax year