Irish tax and accounting, explained properly

Covering Employers, VAT, Company Structure, Deadlines, Tax Planning, Crypto Tax, Corporation Tax, CRO & Annual Accounts, Contractors, Starting Out, Self-Employment and landlords. Every guide opens with a direct answer, states the current figure, and links the Revenue or CRO page it came from.

• Employers10 min read

  Auto-enrolment in Ireland: the employer's obligations

  Who gets enrolled, what it costs you, how the money actually reaches NAERSA through payroll, and the parts employers are getting wrong in the first year.

• Employers10 min read

  Employing your first person in Ireland

  What legally begins the moment you take someone on, in the order it has to happen, and the true cost of a hire once employer PRSI, pension and leave are counted.

• VAT8 min read

  VAT registration in Ireland: when you must register, and how

  The VAT registration thresholds in Ireland, how to register through ROS, and what actually changes for your business the day your registration takes effect.

• Company Structure9 min read

  Sole trader or limited company in Ireland?

  Tax rates, liability, compliance cost and credibility compared — and the honest answer on the profit level at which incorporating starts to make sense.

• Company Structure10 min read

  Setting up a limited company in Ireland

  Directors, secretary, registered office, the EEA resident rule and share capital — plus the Revenue and CRO obligations that start the moment the company exists.

• Deadlines7 min read

  Irish tax return deadlines

  Form 11, CT1, VAT3, B1 and CGT — every deadline an Irish business faces in a year, with the surcharge and penalty for missing each one.

• Tax Planning9 min read

  Capital gains tax in Ireland

  The 33% rate, the €1,270 exemption, the split payment deadlines almost nobody expects, and the reliefs that actually reduce the bill.

• Crypto Tax9 min read

  Crypto tax in Ireland

  How Revenue taxes disposals, swaps, staking and mining — and why the DAC8 reporting that began on 1 January 2026 changes the risk of not declaring.

• Corporation Tax8 min read

  Corporation tax in Ireland

  The 12.5% and 25% rates, what counts as trading, preliminary tax, and the close company surcharges that catch owner-managed businesses.

• CRO & Annual Accounts7 min read

  The CRO annual return, and what it costs to miss it

  What the B1 is, the 56-day rule, the fee structure, and the audit exemption consequence that costs far more than the fine.

• VAT6 min read

  VAT rates in Ireland for 2026

  Every Irish VAT rate in force for 2026, what each one applies to, and the hospitality and hairdressing change that lands on 1 July 2026.

• Contractors10 min read

  Contractor accounting in Ireland

  Choosing between a personal limited company and an umbrella, how to pay yourself, what you can claim, and the employment status question sitting underneath all of it.

• Starting Out10 min read

  Starting a business in Ireland

  The order in which the decisions actually have to be made, which ones are cheap to reverse, and where the state supports are worth the paperwork.

• Company Structure7 min read

  Registering as a sole trader in Ireland

  The registration itself is one form. What follows it — preliminary tax, the Form 11 cycle, PRSI and VAT thresholds — is what people are unprepared for.

• Self-Employment7 min read

  How to register as self-employed in Ireland

  Which form to use, what changes about your PRSI class and entitlements, and the annual cycle you enter the moment you register.

• Tax Planning8 min read

  R&D tax credits in Ireland

  What qualifies as R&D under Irish law, the 35% rate, the three-instalment repayment, and the documentation that decides whether a claim survives review.

• VAT5 min read

  How to check an Irish VAT number

  How to validate an Irish or EU VAT number through VIES, what the Irish number format looks like, and why the check protects you rather than your customer.

• Company Structure6 min read

  The Irish company register

  How to search the CRO register free, what the filings actually reveal, and the checks worth running before you extend credit to a company you do not know.

• Employers7 min read

  Statutory sick pay in Ireland

  The five-day entitlement, the 70% rate and its €110 cap, the records you are required to keep for four years, and where Illness Benefit takes over.

• Employers8 min read

  Redundancy in Ireland

  How statutory redundancy is calculated, what the €600 ceiling really costs you, the tax treatment of anything you pay on top, and the collective redundancy thresholds that change the process entirely.

• Employers6 min read

  The small benefit exemption

  Five benefits, €1,500, no cash — and the reporting obligation that catches employers who have used the exemption for years without ever telling Revenue.

• Landlords9 min read

  Tax on rental income in Ireland

  Allowable expenses, the ones people wrongly claim, wear and tear at 12.5%, pre-letting expenditure up to €10,000, and the filing obligation most accidental landlords miss.

• Tax Planning7 min read

  Tax credits in Ireland for 2026

  What each credit is worth in 2026, how credits differ from bands and reliefs, and the four-year window for claiming ones you have missed.

• Corporation Tax8 min read

  Dividend tax in Ireland, and the alternatives

  The 25% withholding, the marginal-rate charge that follows, and an honest comparison of the four ways to get money out of an Irish company.

• Tax Planning9 min read

  Selling your business in Ireland

  The two reliefs that decide what you keep, the Finance Act 2024 changes to retirement relief, and why advice sought after terms are agreed is usually too late.

• Corporation Tax7 min read

  The close company surcharge

  Almost every Irish owner-managed company is a close company. Here is what that costs if investment, rental or professional income sits undistributed past eighteen months.