Leaving Ireland 2026: Revenue Notification, Form 12 and PPS Number

Notifying Revenue when you leave Ireland: the 2026 process

Revenue (the Office of the Revenue Commissioners) does not require a single ”departure form” from emigrants, but you must update your tax record so the right liability is calculated for your year of departure. The cleanest path is through myAccount (revenue.ie/myaccount), where you can update your address, declare a date of departure, and file a Form 12 for the year of leaving. Self-employed individuals or those with non-PAYE income use ROS (Revenue Online Service) and Form 11 instead. Both filings flow into the same Pay & File deadline of 31 October following the tax year end (or mid-November for ROS users with active e-filing).

Your PPS number (Personal Public Service number) does not lapse when you emigrate — it stays attached to you for life and is reused when you interact with Revenue, the Department of Social Protection (DSP), or the HSE on any future return. Keep your PPSN safe abroad: you will need it to claim refunds, draw your State Pension Contributory eventually, or re-register if you come back.

The split-year treatment claim that most emigrants miss

Section 822 TCA 1997 grants ”split-year treatment” for the year of departure if you intend not to be resident the following tax year. The practical effect is significant: employment income earned abroad after your departure date is treated as non-Irish source and is not taxed in Ireland, even though you may technically still be resident for the full year by counting days. To claim it, tick the relevant box on Form 12 (PAYE) or Form 11 (self-assessed), or write directly to your local Revenue district quoting your PPSN, departure date and destination country.

Without split-year treatment, your worldwide income for the entire calendar year of departure could be assessed in Ireland — leading to a tax bill that double-taxes salary already taxed by the destination country (recoverable later via the Double Taxation Agreement, but a cash-flow nightmare). Always claim split-year on time. Revenue will not apply it automatically.

P21 balancing statement and PAYE refund on departure

If you leave mid-year as a PAYE worker, you have almost certainly overpaid tax (your full annual tax credits and standard rate band were spread across 12 months but you only worked, say, 7). Request a P21 balancing statement through myAccount for the year of departure and any of the previous four years (Revenue allows refunds going back four tax years). Most emigrants are owed between 800 and 3,500 EUR depending on income and credits — money that should not be left on the table.

Refunds are paid into the bank account on file. Update the IBAN in myAccount to a destination country IBAN if your AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB or Revolut account will be closed. Revenue does pay refunds to non-Irish IBANs within the SEPA zone without issue.

Common mistakes when notifying Revenue

What Revenue does not handle — separate notifications

Notifying Revenue is one task. It does not cancel anything else. Many emigrants assume one update propagates everywhere — it does not. You still need to: notify the Department of Social Protection (DSP) if drawing any benefit (Jobseeker’s, Illness Benefit, etc.), notify the HSE to deactivate your medical card or GP visit card (see our HSE emigration guide), update your driver record on the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF) if exporting a car (see our car export guide), notify your bank to mark you as non-resident (this changes DIRT exemption rules), cancel TV Licence with An Post, and end any standing orders to Local Property Tax (LPT).

None of these are triggered by your Revenue address change. Each is a separate process with its own timing.

Tax credits, USC and the year of departure

Most personal tax credits (Personal Tax Credit, PAYE Tax Credit, Home Carer, etc.) are full-year credits — you keep all of them in the year of departure even if you only worked half the year, which is what creates the refund position. Universal Social Charge (USC) is also annualised, so if your annual earnings stay below the relevant USC bands when annualised over the full year, you may have overpaid USC too. The P21 statement reconciles both.

If you become tax-resident in another EU/EEA country in the year of departure, the destination country will tax post-arrival income. The DTA between Ireland and your destination decides which country has primary taxing rights on each income stream — and importantly which credit method applies (exemption with progression, or credit). Keep the Irish P21 plus your end-of-employment payslip for the destination tax authority; they may request both.

Timeline: 90-day Revenue plan around departure

Day -90: Open or refresh myAccount, verify PPSN linked, update mobile and email. Pull P60s for the last 4 years to identify any uncollected refunds. Decide whether you remain Irish-domiciled for CGT and inheritance purposes.

Day -30: Notify your employer of departure date so the final payslip and Form P45 equivalent (now via PAYE Modernisation ”end of employment” record) are correct. Decide if you need to keep a SEPA-compatible IBAN for refunds.

Day 0 (departure): Update address in myAccount to destination address. Save a copy of the confirmation email. Verify your final payslip shows correct cumulative tax.

Day +30: File Form 12 (PAYE) or Form 11 (self-assessed) with split-year treatment ticked. Request P21 balancing statement for departure year. Submit Form NRL if leaving a rental property behind (tenant or agent must withhold 20% — see non-resident landlord guide).

Day +90: Confirm refund received. Cancel direct debits no longer needed (LPT goes via separate online portal). Set calendar reminder for 31 October Pay & File deadline.