Tax
According to the current legislation, the tax on commercial activities has increased to 12.5%, and the size of the regular VAT rate to 21%.
If more than 10% of the company's turnover is concentrated in Europe, it is necessary to obtain a VAT number.
Capital gains tax is 20%, all other types of income - 25%. In addition, Ireland has the most loyal conditions for licensing intellectual property rights, and all because the tax rate does not exceed 6.25%.
Dividends and interest withdrawn by non-residents of Ireland are subject to withholding tax at the rate of 20% unless the rate is underreported by tax treaties to avoid double taxation with certain countries. To date, such an agreement has been concluded with more than 60 states.
Reporting
Every company must keep accounting records. There are three types of annual reporting:
- • annual report (submitted to the State Register of Enterprises);
- • financial report;
- • tax report (filed with the IRS).
Companies whose annual turnover does not exceed 7.5 million euros per year may be exempted from audit.
Miscellaneous
Today Ireland is actively involved in attracting foreign investment. A special program has been developed, which involves the provision of financial incentives to enterprises engaged in the production or provision of international services. A prerequisite for this is the presence of at least ten Irish employees in the workforce.
One of the key places in the Irish economy is occupied by the free economic zone in Shannon, which was created specifically to attract foreign investment to specific regions of the country. In order to engage in trade and service activities on the territory of the Shannon FEZ, you need to obtain a special certificate that entitles the company to receive tax benefits. Only those companies that, in the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, will contribute to the development of the free economic zone, can receive the certificate. Companies that receive such a certificate are completely exempt from VAT, and income tax is reduced to 10%.
Many foreign businessmen prefer to register a Private Limited Company. At least one individual or legal entity, regardless of residency, has the right to act as a shareholder of a limited liability company. The number of directors must be at least two. The duties of the director of such a company are to regulate commercial activities and provide financial statements at the annual meeting.
A prerequisite is also the presence of a secretary of the resident of Ireland. Its powers include keeping all records, minutes and reports of the company, submitting the necessary documents to the Registrar of Companies, as well as notifying all shareholders about the holding of annual meetings.
The words "Bank", "Insurance" and "Group" cannot be used in the name of an Irish company. The name must be unique, at the end of it must be written "Limited", "Teoranta" or the abbreviation - "LTD".