Ireland's company rules: quick facts
- Entity
- Private company limited by shares (LTD)
- Tax model
- Corporate tax on profit, 12.5% Source: revenue.ie, checked September 29, 2026. Revenue Tax and Duty Manual Part 02-02-02 (last reviewed January 2024), sections 21 and 21A TCA 1997: 12.5% applies generally to trading income; 25% applies to income chargeable under Cases III, IV and V of Schedule D, including foreign income, and to excepted tradesHeadline corporate tax rate
- Tax on $100,000 of profit paid out to a non-resident owner
- 25% to 43.75% Source: revenue.ie, checked September 29, 2026. 25% corporation tax, then no dividend withholding for an owner resident in an EU or EEA state or a treaty country who files Form V2A certified by their tax authority. Without the exemption, 25% withholding on the EUR 65,917 paid out takes the total to 43.75%
- Dividend withholding for a non-resident owner
- 0% to 25% Source: revenue.ie, checked September 29, 2026. The statutory rate is 25% from January 1, 2020 (Revenue TDM Part 06-08A-01). An individual who is not resident in Ireland and is tax resident in an EU or EEA state or a country with an Irish tax treaty is exempt on a Form V2A certified by the tax authority of their country of residence, valid until December 31 of the fifth year after issue
- Formed without visiting
- Yes
- Stripe available
- Yes Source: stripe.com, checked September 29, 2026
- Bank or EMI account
- Workable
- Audit required
- No
- EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
- Not listed Source: taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu, checked September 29, 2026
- FATF grey list
- Not listed Source: taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu, checked September 29, 2026
- Economic substance rules
- No
Which Irish company a non-resident forms: the private company limited by shares
Non-residents form a private company limited by shares, the LTD. It needs at least 1 director and a company secretary, and a sole director cannot also be the secretary, so a solo founder brings in a second person or pays a provider to act as secretary. The registered office must be in Ireland, and no audit is needed at this size.
At least 1 director must be resident in an EEA state. A founder living outside the EEA with no EEA-resident director needs the company to hold a €25,000 (about $28,400) bond that covers its fines and tax penalties, or a Revenue certificate that it has a real and continuous economic link to Ireland.
Irish corporation tax for a non-resident's company: 12.5% or 25%
Revenue applies 12.5% to trading income and 25% to other income, including foreign income. The trade has to be carried on in Ireland. When the only person doing the work lives and works abroad, no trade is carried on in Ireland, and the profit is foreign income taxed at 25%.
At $100,000 of profit, which is €87,889, that makes €21,972 (about $25,000) of corporation tax. A professional services company that keeps its profit more than 18 months after the year end can also attract the close company surcharge on top.
Irish dividend withholding tax is 25%, but an owner resident in an EU or EEA state or a treaty country is exempt on a Form V2A certified by the tax authority where they live, valid until December 31 of the fifth year after it is issued. Without it, 25% of the €65,917 (about $75,000) left is withheld, €16,479 (about $18,700), for 43.75% in total.
VAT registration applies above €42,500 (about $48,400) of turnover for services and €85,000 (about $96,700) for goods. Services sold to business customers abroad are generally not charged Irish VAT: the customer reverse-charges inside the EU, and they are outside the scope beyond it.
David's note
I would not form an Irish company to get 12.5% on work done from somewhere else; that rate belongs to a trade actually run in Ireland. An Irish LTD makes sense for a non-resident with a real Irish or EEA-resident director running an EU-facing business, or for a founder who plans to move to Ireland. For remote work done entirely abroad, the 25%, the secretary and possibly the bond make it expensive for what it delivers.
Cost and timeline to set up in Ireland
| CRO company registration (Form A1, online)Official fee | €50 (about $57) Source: irishstatutebook.ie, checked September 29, 2026. Companies Act 2014 (Fees) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 329 of 2025, made July 15, 2025), item 1: EUR 50 in electronic form; paper form 'not applicable'. About $57 |
|---|---|
| Annual return (Form B1, online, on time)Official fee | €20 (about $23) a year Source: irishstatutebook.ie, checked September 29, 2026. S.I. No. 329 of 2025, item 18: EUR 20 electronic only. Filed late (item 19): EUR 120 plus EUR 3 a day, up to EUR 1,220 |
| Setup, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $285 to $3,400 |
| Running cost per year, all inMarket range, checked Sep 2026 | $1,800 to $3,800 |
Official fees come from the government or registry schedule. Market ranges cover formation and yearly upkeep through a provider, including a registered agent and filings. Timeline: Incorporation is filed online only through the Companies Registration Office system, usually by a formation agent; the paper route is no longer offered. On September 17, 2026 the CRO was processing ordinary online company applications received on September 3, 2026, about 2 weeks behind. A founder outside the EEA must add a EUR 25,000 bond before the company can register without an EEA-resident director.
How to register an Irish company from abroad
You do not need to visit Ireland. Incorporation is filed online only, through the Companies Registration Office system, usually by a formation agent, and the paper route is no longer offered. On September 17, 2026 the CRO was processing ordinary online applications received on September 3, so plan on about 2 weeks for the registration itself.
Registering an Irish LTD as a non-resident
- Settle the EEA director question first: appoint a director resident in an EEA state, arrange the €25,000 (about $28,400) bond, or apply for Revenue's certificate of a real economic link to Ireland.
- Appoint a company secretary. With 1 director, the secretary must be someone else, often the formation provider.
- Get an Irish registered office address.
- File Form A1 online with the CRO for €50 (about $57), with the constitution and the details of the directors, the secretary and the shareholders.
- Register the company for tax with Revenue and set up ROS, the online service every Corporation Tax return has to go through.
- File the beneficial owners with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership.
- Open the business account once the certificate of incorporation arrives.
For a founder outside the EEA, the bond is the real price of entry: the top of the $285 to $3,400 setup range in the cost box is what you pay once the bond, a secretary and a registered office are added. The beneficial ownership register is no longer open to the public since the EU Court of Justice ruling of November 2022.
Irish company annual filings and deadlines
The first annual return comes early: it is made up to 6 months after incorporation, with no financial statements, and every later return carries them. The Corporation Tax return and the balance of the tax share one deadline.
Yearly filings for an Irish private company limited by shares
| Filing | Filed with | Deadline | Cost of missing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual return (Form B1) with financial statements, €20 (about $23) online | Companies Registration Office | Within 56 days of the annual return date; the first is made up to 6 months after incorporation | €120 (about $137) plus €3 a day, up to €1,220 (about $1,390), and the audit exemption can be lost |
| Corporation Tax return (CT1) and the balance of the tax | Revenue, through ROS | The 23rd of the 9th month after the accounting period ends | A surcharge of 5% of the tax (up to €12,695, about $14,400) within 2 months, 10% (up to €63,485, about $72,200) after that, plus interest of 0.0219% a day |
| Preliminary tax, small company | Revenue, through ROS | 1 installment, 31 days before the accounting period ends, by the 23rd of that month | Interest on the late tax |
| Your own tax return, with the dividends on it | The tax authority where you live | Your country's deadline | Your country's penalties and the tax itself |
Opening a bank account for an Irish company as a non-resident
Irish banks usually want an Irish presence, so a founder living abroad normally opens the company's account with an EU fintech or e-money provider instead. Expect to show the certificate of incorporation, the constitution, ID for the directors and beneficial owners, and a clear account of what the company sells and to whom.
Each provider decides which countries of residence it accepts for directors and owners, and an owner outside the EEA should check that before paying for the bond. Stripe fully supports Irish companies, so card payments work once the account is open.
Ireland exchanges account information under the OECD Common Reporting Standard and has a FATCA agreement with the US. The company's accounts and the dividends it pays are visible to the tax authorities that matter, including the one where you live.
Where an Irish company's profit is really taxed
2 things move the Irish number: where the work is done, which sets 12.5% or 25%, and where you live, which decides whether dividends leave Ireland free of withholding. At $100,000 of profit, all paid out, the owner situations look like this.
Tax on $100,000 of Irish company profit (€87,889), all paid out as a dividend
| Owner situation | Irish tax | What your country adds |
|---|---|---|
| Lives in Ireland and runs the trade there | 12.5%, €10,986 (about $12,500) | Irish income tax on the dividends you take |
| Lives in an EU, EEA or treaty country and works from there | 25%, €21,972 (about $25,000), no withholding with a certified Form V2A | Tax on the dividend at home, and possibly a claim that the company is resident or has a permanent establishment there |
| Lives outside the EEA and the treaty network | 25%, then 25% withholding: 43.75% | Whatever your country charges on top |
| Has no tax residence anywhere | 25%, then 25% withholding, because no tax authority can certify Form V2A: 43.75% | Nothing on paper, but banks will ask where you are tax resident |
Moving to Ireland and running the trade from there is the one way to earn the 12.5%, and it brings the dividends you take under Irish income tax as a resident. An Irish-incorporated company is Irish tax resident unless a tax treaty makes it resident elsewhere, so a company run from your home abroad can lose Irish residence under the treaty tie-breaker.
Paying a dividend before Form V2A is in place
The withholding exemption only works once the company holds your Form V2A, certified by the tax authority of the country you live in. Pay the first dividend before that and the company has to withhold 25%: on a full payout of $100,000 of profit, €16,479 (about $18,700) leaves before the money reaches you.
A non-resident's Irish LTD, set up right and wrong
Works
You live in an EU country, an Irish-resident director genuinely runs the trade in Ireland, the 12.5% is claimed only on that trade, your certified Form V2A is on file before the first dividend, and the B1 goes in within 56 days every year.
Fails
You live outside the EEA and the treaty network, you formed the LTD for 12.5%, you pay for the bond and a provider secretary, you do all the work from abroad, and you find out at the first return that the profit is taxed at 25% and every dividend loses 25% more.
