Company Formation in Ireland

Last updated: April 2026.

Ireland is the only English-speaking, common-law, euro-zone jurisdiction inside the European Union. The headline rate of corporation tax on trading income is 12.5% and has been for two decades. There is no statutory minimum share capital for an Irish LTD — most new companies issue 100 ordinary shares of €1 each. A single director and a single shareholder are enough, and they can be the same person. The one structural constraint for non-residents is Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014: at least one director must be resident in the European Economic Area, or the company must post a €25,000 bond. Formation through the CRO's Fé Phrainn online scheme issues a Certificate of Incorporation within five working days.

We form Irish LTDs end to end: name clearance, constitution drafting, Section 137 bond arrangement, CRO filing, Revenue registration for CT and VAT, RBO beneficial-owner declaration, and a business bank account introduction. Fixed price, dedicated Irish-qualified manager, everything in one invoice.

Quick facts	Value
Corporation tax — trading income	12.5%
Corporation tax — passive / investment income	25%
Pillar Two minimum rate (groups ≥ €750M revenue)	15% top-up
VAT (standard)	23% (reduced rates 13.5% and 9%)
VAT registration threshold	€42,500 services / €85,000 goods
Minimum share capital (LTD)	No statutory minimum
Minimum directors / shareholders	1 director, 1 shareholder (can be the same person)
EEA director requirement	Yes — or Section 137 bond (€25,000, 2 years)
Standard formation time	5 working days via Fé Phrainn A1 Online
Government fees	Included in our packages
Language of filings	English
Currency	Euro (EUR)

Why Form a Company in Ireland

Ireland sits on the short list of EU jurisdictions that international founders actually use. Three reasons drive the choice.

The 12.5% trading rate is real. It is not a small-taxpayer bracket, a niche regime, or a holding-company sleight of hand. Every Irish-resident company carrying on a trade pays 12.5% on its trading profits, from the first euro to the billionth. Pillar Two adds a 15% top-up only for multinational groups with consolidated revenue above €750 million. For the vast majority of SMEs, holding companies, and founder-owned businesses, the headline rate is the effective rate.

Common law plus EU membership. Ireland is the only common-law jurisdiction remaining in the EU after Brexit. That matters for contract drafting, dispute resolution, and investor recognition. A UK-qualified lawyer reads an Irish constitution without translation. A US venture capital firm recognises an Irish LTD's shareholder agreement. Simultaneously, an Irish company benefits from the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the Interest and Royalties Directive, and EU VAT reverse-charge — none of which apply to a UK Ltd any more.

Treaty network and IP regime. Ireland has tax treaties with 76 countries, a participation exemption that was widened on 1 January 2026 (the lookback period for qualifying subsidiaries dropped from five years to three), and a Knowledge Development Box taxing qualifying IP income at 6.25%. The R&D tax credit was raised from 30% to 35% in Budget 2026 — an effective benefit of 47.5% on qualifying spend when combined with the 12.5% deduction.

The trade-off: Ireland is not cheap to operate. Dublin rents are among Europe's highest, payroll taxes (employer PRSI at 11.15% plus USC) make Irish employment expensive, and the Section 137 bond adds cost and friction for structures with no EEA-resident director.

Company Types Available in Ireland

The Companies Act 2014 recognises six principal forms. For nearly all cf24 clients, the LTD is the right answer.

LTD (Private Company Limited by Shares)

The default Irish vehicle. One-document constitution, no stated objects, unlimited capacity to trade. Minimum one director (who can be the sole shareholder). No statutory minimum share capital — 100 ordinary shares of €1 is the standard setup. Audit exemption applies below the small-company thresholds (turnover €12m, balance sheet €6m, 50 employees — two of three). This is the company used for operating businesses, holding structures, e-commerce, SaaS, and founder-owned ventures.

DAC (Designated Activity Company)

A private company limited by shares (or by guarantee with share capital) with a stated objects clause. Two directors required. Used where a regulated purpose is mandated — special purpose vehicles in structured finance, insurance captives, and entities that must ring-fence their activities contractually. Requires an authorised share capital figure in the constitution, unlike the LTD.

PLC (Public Limited Company)

For listing or large unlisted businesses. Minimum issued share capital of €25,000, at least 25% paid up. Two directors, company secretary, full statutory audit. Only used where the company is heading for Euronext Dublin or the London Stock Exchange, or is raising capital from the general public.

CLG (Company Limited by Guarantee)

No share capital. Members guarantee a nominal sum (usually €1) in winding-up. Standard form for not-for-profits, sports clubs, apartment-block management companies, and industry associations. Two directors required.

ULC (Unlimited Company)

A company whose members have unlimited liability for its debts. Counterintuitive, but sought for privacy — a ULC that is not part of a group including a limited company can avoid filing financial statements publicly. Used in specific family-office and holding structures.

External Company (Branch)

A foreign company registered under Part 21 of the Companies Act to operate in Ireland without a separate Irish legal entity. The parent's balance sheet and liability extend to the branch. Rarely the right choice for new ventures — a subsidiary LTD is almost always cleaner.

Form	Min capital	Liability	Directors	Common use
LTD	None (€1 nominal typical)	Limited	1	Default — SMEs, holdings, subsidiaries
DAC	None statutory	Limited	2	Regulated activities, SPVs
PLC	€25,000	Limited	2	Listed cos, public capital raising
CLG	None (no share capital)	Limited by guarantee	2	Not-for-profits, management cos
ULC	Share capital required	Unlimited	2	Privacy, holding structures
External Company	n/a	Parent's	n/a	Foreign branch presence

For an alternative to new formation, see our sister brand's pre-incorporated Irish limited companies — pre-registered, dormant, and transferable within days for founders on a tight deadline.

Step-by-Step Formation Process

A typical LTD formation through the Fé Phrainn scheme runs as follows.

1. Name clearance. We check the proposed name against the CRO Register and the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland's trade-mark database. Irish name rules are stricter than the UK — names that are too similar to existing companies, or that imply state or regulated-industry status, are refused. Two or three alternatives is normal.

1. Constitution drafting. We prepare the single-document LTD constitution under the Companies Act 2014. Share classes, transfer restrictions, drag-along and tag-along provisions, and any bespoke governance language are drafted at this stage. For straightforward cases the statutory default provisions are used and the document runs to four or five pages.

1. KYC and PPS / RBO numbers. Each director, shareholder, and beneficial owner provides passport, address proof, and date of birth. Directors who do not already hold a PPS (Personal Public Service) number must obtain an RBO Transaction Number from the Department of Social Protection before CRO filing — a prerequisite introduced to close identity gaps.

1. Section 137 bond (if applicable). Where no director is EEA-resident, we arrange the two-year non-resident director bond (€25,000 face value, ~€1,600 premium). The bond must be in place before the A1 form is filed. Underwriters include Allianz and AIG via Irish brokers. This step adds 4–5 working days.

1. Form A1 filing via Fé Phrainn. The incorporation application is lodged with the CRO through the Fé Phrainn A1 Online Scheme — reserved for filings using pre-approved constitutions, which allows the CRO to issue the Certificate of Incorporation within five working days. Ordinary A1 filings take up to ten working days.

1. Post-incorporation registrations. Within five months of incorporation, the company files its beneficial-owner declaration with the RBO (Register of Beneficial Ownership). Corporation Tax and VAT registration with Revenue is done through ROS (Revenue Online Service) using the new company's CRO number. PAYE for employees, EORI for international trade, and Employer PRSI registration follow where relevant.

End-to-end from KYC clearance to an operating company with a bank account is typically 10–14 business days. The certificate itself lands within a week; bank onboarding is the longest step.

Required Documents

For each director, shareholder, and beneficial owner:

• Government-issued photo ID (passport preferred)
• Proof of residential address dated within three months — utility bill, bank statement, or government letter
• Date of birth, nationality, occupation, current residential address
• PPS number or RBO Transaction Number (we obtain where the director does not hold one)

For corporate shareholders:

• Certified copy of certificate of incorporation
• Certified copy of register of directors and most recent constitution
• Ultimate beneficial owner declaration (with supporting chain-of-ownership documents)
• Apostille where the jurisdiction is outside the Hague Convention's list of apostille countries; otherwise authentication by the nearest Irish embassy

You also confirm the registered office address (we provide one in Dublin 2 if you do not have your own Irish address), the share allocation, and the NACE / principal activity code describing the business. Certified English translations are required only where corporate documents are not in English — apostille alone is not sufficient.

Costs and Timeline

Irish formation costs depend on whether you need the Section 137 bond (added when no director is EEA-resident), whether you elect the Fé Phrainn five-day fast track, and the scope of ongoing services — registered office, accounting, payroll setup, and annual CRO B1 filing.

Our packages cover full incorporation through Fé Phrainn, all CRO filings, registered office for year one, Revenue registration for Corporation Tax and VAT, RBO beneficial-owner filing, an Irish business bank account introduction, and optional Section 137 bond arrangement. Contact us for a fixed-price quote — no hourly bills, no surprise line items, and no extras invoiced after the work is done.

Typical timeline from KYC clearance:

Day	Milestone
0	Engagement, KYC submitted
1–2	KYC cleared, constitution drafted, PPS/RBO numbers obtained
3–5	Section 137 bond arranged (if applicable)
4–7	Form A1 filed via Fé Phrainn
7–10	Certificate of Incorporation issued
10–14	Revenue CT/VAT registration, RBO filing, bank account opened

Tax Overview for Irish Companies

Irish corporate taxation is straightforward by continental standards. The headline rate is the effective rate for nearly everyone.

Corporation tax — trading income: 12.5%. Applies to active trading profits of any Irish-resident company. No small-taxpayer bracket above, no surcharge below; the 12.5% headline rate applies uniformly. A "trade" is defined restrictively — it must be an active business, not the passive holding of assets.

Corporation tax — passive income: 25%. Rental income, investment income, and foreign dividends that do not qualify for the participation exemption are taxed at 25%. This is the price of receiving investment returns through an Irish company — trading companies almost never pay this rate.

Pillar Two (IIR / QDTT): 15% effective for multinational groups with consolidated revenue above €750 million in at least two of the four preceding fiscal years. Under Finance Act (No 2) 2023, Ireland implemented the Income Inclusion Rule and Qualified Domestic Top-up Tax from 1 January 2024, with the Under-Taxed Profits Rule from 1 January 2025. Sub-threshold groups pay the 12.5% rate.

Participation exemption (dividends). Qualifying dividends from subsidiaries resident in EU/EEA or DTT countries are exempt from Irish corporation tax. Finance Act 2024 introduced a dedicated exemption (replacing the older credit system for most groups), and from 1 January 2026 the lookback period for the qualifying-residence test was reduced from five years to three, and jurisdictions that apply a non-refundable dividend withholding tax are now in scope.

VAT: 23% standard rate. Reduced rates of 13.5% (construction, short-term car hire, cleaning) and 9% (newspapers, e-books, hotels). Hospitality and restaurant services revert from 13.5% to 9% from 1 July 2026. The registration threshold is €42,500 for services and €85,000 for goods — among the lowest in the EU. Most B2B-cross-border businesses register voluntarily from day one.

Withholding tax on dividends (DWT): 25% standard rate. Exemptions apply automatically where the recipient is resident in the EU, EEA, or a DTT country and has filed the required exemption declaration — the effective rate on qualifying outbound dividends is 0%.

Withholding tax on interest: 20%. Exempt for short-term loans under one year, for interest paid to EU/EEA lenders in the ordinary course of a trade, and under the EU Interest and Royalties Directive for associated-company payments.

Withholding tax on royalties: applies in practice only to patent royalties. Copyright, software, and most other royalties are outside the WHT net.

Capital gains tax: 33%. The Substantial Shareholding Exemption removes CGT on the disposal of qualifying subsidiaries where the seller holds at least 5% for a 12-month period — critical for holding-company exits.

R&D tax credit: 35% from Budget 2026 (up from 30%), with the first-year refundable payment threshold raised from €75,000 to €87,500. Effective for accounting periods with returns due on or after 23 September 2027.

Knowledge Development Box: 6.25% effective rate on qualifying patent and IP-related income — among the lowest IP-box rates in Europe.

VAT Modernisation / e-invoicing. Mandatory B2B structured e-invoicing rolls out in three phases: November 2028 for large corporates managed by Revenue's Large Corporates Division, November 2029 for the general VAT-registered population, and July 2030 full alignment with the EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) directive for intra-EU B2B. Invoices will flow through the Peppol 5-corner network using the EN 16931 structured format. Most cf24 clients are outside Phase 1 scope.

Banking for Irish Companies

Irish business banking divides cleanly. Traditional banks handle the domestic SME market and large corporates; digital providers handle most non-resident-controlled new incorporations.

AIB (Allied Irish Banks) is the largest SME bank in the state. Strong branch network, integrated treasury, and a dedicated international corporate desk for larger clients. AIB typically requires a director to attend an Irish branch for face-to-face verification and asks about local substance before onboarding non-resident-controlled companies.

Bank of Ireland runs a similar model — traditional onboarding with a branch visit, broad product range, and competitive rates for established Irish operations. International transfer fees run from €12.50 to €42.50 per payment.

Permanent TSB (PTSB) is Ireland's third domestic bank. Slightly faster onboarding in some cases, fewer branches, competitive for smaller operating companies with purely domestic activity.

Revolut Business holds a Lithuanian banking licence and passports into Ireland under EU rules. Fully remote onboarding, EUR IBAN, multi-currency balances, and strong API / accounting integration. Revolut will onboard any company registered in the EEA or the US, which covers every Irish LTD. A live-video KYC session typically completes within a week.

Wise Business offers multi-currency accounts with real Irish and European local details (EUR IBAN, GBP sort code, USD routing). Low FX spreads, transparent fees, and full API access. Excludes certain high-risk sectors (crypto exchange, online gaming, adult content); we screen profiles before making introductions.

Fineco Bank (Italian parent, cross-border EU licence) and N26 Business (German licence) are secondary options where the founders want a deposit-taking bank with a credit-card issuer and broader product set than a pure EMI.

For companies with Irish operating substance, a typical pattern is Revolut or Wise for immediate trading within days of incorporation, then AIB or Bank of Ireland within six to twelve months as local activity develops.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to register a company in Ireland?

Through the CRO's Fé Phrainn A1 Online Scheme, Certificate of Incorporation is issued within five working days. Ordinary online filings take up to ten. Including KYC, constitution drafting, PPS number acquisition, and any Section 137 bond arrangement, our typical end-to-end timeline is 10 to 14 business days from first contact to a fully operational company with a bank account opened.

Can a non-resident set up an Irish company?

Yes. Irish company law imposes no citizenship requirement on directors or shareholders. A non-resident can be the sole director and sole shareholder of an Irish LTD. Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014 does require at least one director to be resident in the European Economic Area — if none of your directors qualifies, the company posts a two-year €25,000 bond instead.

What is a Section 137 bond?

A Section 137 bond is an insurance instrument required where an Irish company has no EEA-resident director. It guarantees €25,000 to cover Revenue or CRO fines and penalties the company might incur. The bond runs for two years and typically costs around €1,600 in premium. After two years, the company renews the bond, appoints an EEA-resident director, or secures a Certificate of Real and Continuous Link with Ireland.

What is the minimum share capital for an Irish LTD?

There is no statutory minimum share capital for a Private Company Limited by Shares. The standard structure is 100 ordinary shares of €1 each, issued to the founder. A Public Limited Company (PLC) requires €25,000 issued share capital with at least 25% paid up, but PLCs are only used by companies raising capital from the public or heading for a listing.

What's the corporate tax rate in Ireland?

Ireland's corporation tax on trading income is 12.5% — the rate has been stable for twenty years. Passive and investment income is taxed at 25%. Multinational groups with consolidated revenue above €750 million pay a 15% effective rate under Pillar Two top-up rules. The Knowledge Development Box taxes qualifying IP income at 6.25%.

Do I need an Irish director to form a company?

Not specifically Irish — but at least one director must be resident in the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) under Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014. A UK-resident director no longer satisfies this test after Brexit. If no director is EEA-resident, the company must hold a Section 137 non-resident director bond as an alternative.

Can I open an Irish business bank account as a foreigner?

Yes — though the route depends on the bank. Traditional banks (AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB) generally require a director to attend an Irish branch and show local substance before onboarding. Digital providers like Revolut Business and Wise Business open accounts remotely for any EEA-registered company, including non-resident-owned Irish LTDs, within days of incorporation.

Get Started — Form Your Irish Company

A fixed-price quote in 60 seconds. Certificate of Incorporation in five working days via the Fé Phrainn scheme. Section 137 bond arranged where needed. Bank account introduction included — Revolut Business or Wise for immediate trading, traditional banks once Irish substance is in place.

Call +48 2222 5 2222 or email [email protected] to start. Most Irish formations are complete and operating with a bank account within 14 business days.

---

Content prepared by Piotr Walter, In-house Counsel. Approved by Tomasz Bielski, Managing Director.