It’s been a blustery weekend, with rain showers on and off. Nighttime lows have dipped down into the mid 40s F / around 8 C., and I definitely notice the chillier air in the evenings and first thing in the morning. It’s supposed to warm up somewhat later this week when the remnants of hurricane Sam, which is currently making its way across the Atlantic.
Despite the moody weather, I spent most of Saturday afternoon outdoors. My friend CJ texted me in the morning asking if I’d like to join him on a walk to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, which has been featuring an outdoor exhibit. My SuperValu grocery delivery came on the early side as normal, so as soon as everything was put away I headed over the Liffey to meet CJ. We clocked in over 11,000 steps walking to and back, finishing up the afternoon with a few glasses of wine at a cafe in the Little Italy neighbourhood near where he lives.
On Sunday afternoon, I went to a screening of some Irish short films as part of Dublin’s GAZE LGBTQ+ international film festival. GAZA has been around since 1992. The screening took place in the Lighthouse Cinema in the Smithfield district. It’s a modern cinema geared more for artsy films. It’s not nearly as impressive as the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, although it was still nice to take part in a community event. Most of the seats were taken, now that there is only one vacant seat required between groups. The filmmakers were introduced before the screening and said a few brief words about their works. The films themselves were interesting. I wouldn’t say my mind was blown away by any of them, though. Interestingly enough, none of the films made any references to COVID-19, so I imagine they were all made before the pandemic.
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My second monthly payday with UCD came on the last day of September. When I checked my bank account, the deposit was much less than I expected. It turns out that in Ireland when you get a new job you have to register it with the Department of Revenue, otherwise, you will be subject to an “emergency” tax rate of 40% (!). That certainly explains why the deposited amount was so much lower than I expected. Unlike in the U.S., there is no equivalent of a W-4 form here in Ireland where an employee can adjust their deductions. I thought all I needed to do was provide UCD with my Personal Public Service (PPS) number and they would take care of everything, but no. Once you register a new job with Revenue, they will send a “tax credit certificate” to you and a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) to your employer, which shows the total amount of your tax credits and rate band. Your employer will then refund any overpaid tax and Universal Social Charge (USC) on your next payday. At least I’ll get a refund back soon. Filing income taxes is apparently much simpler for “PAYE” employees (like me) in Ireland. PAYE stands for “Pay As You Earn,” and in these cases your employer deducts income tax, Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) and Universal Social Charge (USC) based on the amount of compensation each pay period. Your annual tax return is automatically tabulated on the department of Revenue’s system, and other than applying some credits, it doesn’t need to be modified since the taxes are calculated using applicable rates in real time. I guess I’ll find out how it all works next year when I have file taxes for the first time in Ireland.
Until next time….
