In EGPRS the gain achieved through code combining of erroneous data packets; the so-called incremental redundancy (IR), compared with no IR is highly dependent on successful decoding of the RLC/MAC header. This paper provides-under a simulation environment-the effect of header error on the downlink link level performance of EGPRS when operating in the IR mode. The results are presented in terms of effective throughput for the most relevant EGPRS coding schemes. The scenarios considered are based on an ideal receiver performance under TU3-FH and RA250-NoFH interference limited radio channel conditions.