If the RPN Hasn’t Arrived

Step 1 – Check employee details

Make sure the employee’s details in BrightPay match exactly what was submitted to Revenue:

• PPS Number
• Date of Birth
• Start Date
• Employment ID (if used)
• Employer’s registered tax number

A small mismatch (like a typo in the PPS number) can stop the RPN from being issued.

Step 2 – Check your connection to Revenue

Go to:
“Employees” → “Revenue” → “Retrieve RPNs”
Make sure BrightPay is:

• Connected to the correct Revenue ROS certificate, and
• The connection is working (no authentication errors).

If your ROS certificate has expired, you’ll need to renew it before BrightPay can download new RPNs.

Step 3 – Temporarily use emergency tax

If the RPN still hasn’t arrived in time to run payroll:

• Process the employee using Emergency Tax.
  BrightPay will automatically apply the correct emergency tax rules based on Revenue guidelines.
• When the RPN becomes available, BrightPay will automatically update the employee’s tax details and apply any refunds or adjustments in the next pay run.

Step 4 – Retrieve the RPN later

After Revenue updates their records, go back to:
Employees → Revenue → Retrieve RPNs
Once retrieved, BrightPay will:

• Replace the emergency tax details, and
• Recalculate any tax or USC differences automatically.

Q. I have checked all employee's details on BrightPay and they are correct, but Revenue is still not returning a RPN for a new employee. What should I do?

A. If all details have been checked and verified as correct in BrightPay, the employee may not have registered themselves for employment with Revenue. Especially for younger employees who may not have been in employment before, they will need to register with Revenue. Ask the employee if they have done this. If no RPN is being returned from Revenue, emergency tax rate will apply until the employment is recognised by Revenue.