How to Set Up a Limited Company in Ireland in 2026

When you set up a limited company in Ireland, the business becomes a separate legal person that keeps your personal assets apart from its debts. It pays 12.5% corporation tax on trading profits and trades inside the EU single market. An Irish LTD needs only one director and has no minimum share capital.

The difficulty is in the rules around it. A sole director cannot also be the company secretary. At least one director must live in the European Economic Area, or the company needs a €25,000 Section 137 bond. Every director needs an Irish identity number before the CRO accepts the filing, and the first deadlines start the day the company exists.

Setting it up with us is simple. Binderr forms the company itself, so setting up a limited company in Ireland runs through one team: the name check, the constitution, the CRO filing, the secretary, the ownership register and the tax registration. One starting price, no email chains, and your LTD is registered in about a week.

Setting up in Belfast or elsewhere in Northern Ireland? That is a UK company, so read our guide to setting up a limited company in Northern Ireland.

Why Set Up a Limited Company in Ireland

The Irish LTD, the private company limited by shares, is registered under Part 2 of the Companies Act 2014 and is the type most founders choose. It separates the business from its owners and pays a low rate on trading profit. These are the main advantages of setting up a limited company in Ireland over trading in your own name.

Limited Liability for the Owners

The company is a separate legal person that signs the contracts, owns the assets and owes the debts. If the business fails, a shareholder loses what they paid for their shares, plus anything still unpaid on them, and nothing more. Your home and savings stay out of reach of the company's creditors, apart from the exceptions covered below.

12.5% Tax on Trading Profits

Revenue charges 12.5% corporation tax on trading income and 25% on non-trading income such as rent and interest. A sole trader pays income tax at 20% or 40%, plus USC and PRSI, on all profit in the year it is earned. In a company, profit left in the business is taxed at 12.5%, and you decide when to take it out. Read more: the benefits of setting up a company in Ireland.

A Company That Can Take Investors

An LTD can have between 1 and 149 members, and its shares can be issued, transferred or sold. That makes it easy to bring in a co-founder, reward a key employee or sell the business later. Section 68 of the Companies Act 2014 stops an LTD offering shares to the public, so a company that plans to list has to become a PLC.

Simple Rules for a Private Company

The LTD has a one-document constitution with no objects clause, and the CRO describes it as having the contractual capacity of a natural person. It can pass majority written resolutions, skip the annual general meeting when all members agree in writing, and claim audit exemption while it is small.

An EU Company Registered Online

Ireland is an EU member state that uses the euro, and English is an official language, so contracts and filings stay in English. The Companies Registration Office registered 26,533 new companies in 2025, and Form A1, the application to incorporate, is filed online only.

LTD vs DAC, CLG and Sole Trader in Ireland

Choosing the company type is the first decision in how to set up a limited company in Ireland, and most founders choose the LTD for a simple reason: it is the only company type that works with one director and a one-document constitution. The DAC, the CLG and the sole trader route each fit narrower cases. The table shows the rules that separate them.

Read the directors row first: only the LTD works with one director. The constitution row decides most of the rest, because a DAC or a CLG can only act inside its stated objects.

Private Company Limited by Shares (LTD)

For limited company formation in Ireland, the LTD fits a trading business, a consultancy, a start-up and most holding companies. It can do anything lawful and grow from one owner to 149 without changing type. It is the wrong choice where a lender or regulator insists on a stated purpose. The PLC and the branch of a foreign company are covered in our Ireland company formation guide.

Designated Activity Company (DAC)

A DAC must state its objects in a memorandum and needs at least two directors. Property finance vehicles, joint ventures and single-licence companies use it, because everyone can see what the company may do. A founder whose business model may change should not start here, because any activity outside the objects needs a members' resolution first.

Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG)

A CLG has no share capital. Its members promise to contribute a fixed amount if it is wound up, and that is their only liability. Charities, clubs and management companies use it, but it cannot take investors or pay dividends.

Sole Trader

A sole trader is not a company. You trade in your own name, or under a business name registered on Form RBN1, and you are personally liable for every business debt. It is the cheapest way to start, and our guide to setting up as a sole trader in Ireland covers it. Once the business signs real contracts or makes steady profit, starting a limited company in Ireland is usually the better move. Read more: sole trader vs limited company.

Rules Every Irish LTD Must Follow

The Companies Act 2014 keeps the LTD simple, but five rules apply to anyone setting up a limited company in Ireland. The CRO checks most of them before it issues the certificate.

One Director and a Separate Company Secretary

An LTD needs at least one director aged 18 or over, and every Irish company needs a company secretary. Where there is only one director, section 134 stops that person also acting as secretary, so a second person or a corporate secretary is needed. Under section 142, one person cannot hold more than 25 directorships at once, with some exemptions.

Members and Share Capital

An LTD can have between 1 and 149 members, who can be individuals or companies of any nationality, living anywhere. There is no minimum share capital, and many companies start with 100 shares of €1 each. Anyone who owns or controls more than 25% of the shares or votes is a beneficial owner and goes on the Register of Beneficial Ownership within five months. Our guide to the ultimate beneficial owner explains how that test works through layers of companies.

A Name Ending in Limited or Teoranta

The name must end with Limited or Teoranta, or the short forms Ltd and Teo. The CRO's name availability check refuses a name that is identical or too similar to one on the register, and words such as bank need approval first. A name can be reserved for 28 days for €25, which comes off the incorporation fee if the company is formed in time.

The EEA Director Rule and the Section 137 Bond

At least one director must be resident in a member state of the European Economic Area. If none is, the company must hold a Section 137 bond with a value of €25,000, running for at least two years. The bond is not refunded, it stands behind fines and certain tax penalties, and published broker prices run from about €1,500 to about €1,960 including VAT. The non-resident director rules for Irish companies explain the section 140 alternative.

A Registered Office and an Identity Number for Each Director

The registered office must be a physical address in Ireland, because official letters and legal papers are served there. Since 11 June 2023, every director must also give a PPS number, or file Form VIF to get an Identified Person Number from the CRO. A filing without a valid number is rejected.

Limited Liability and Where It Stops

Limited liability protects the shareholders, not every decision a director makes. It weakens when a director signs a personal guarantee, breaches the duties in the Companies Act 2014 or keeps trading when the company cannot pay its debts.

Personal Guarantees

Banks, landlords and some suppliers ask the directors of a new company to guarantee its debts personally. A guarantee sits outside limited liability, so read it before you sign, cap it in amount and time where you can, and keep a list of what you have signed.

Director Duties Under Section 228

Section 228 of the Companies Act 2014 sets out eight fiduciary duties. A director must act in good faith in the company's interests, act honestly and responsibly, follow the constitution, and not use company property or information for personal benefit without approval. A director must also keep an independent judgement, avoid conflicts of interest, use reasonable care, skill and diligence, and have regard to the interests of the members. These duties apply in a one-person company too: the company's money is not the director's money.

Reckless Trading and Personal Liability

Under section 610, a court can make a director personally responsible, without any limit, for all or part of the company's debts where the business was run recklessly or with intent to defraud creditors. Taking on a debt without an honest, reasonable belief that the company could pay it, and its other debts, when due counts as reckless. When a company is struggling, get advice before taking on new credit.

Restriction and Disqualification

When an insolvent company is wound up, a director can be restricted under section 819 for five years, unless the court is satisfied that they acted honestly and responsibly. A restricted person can only be a director of a private company with at least €100,000 of allotted share capital, fully paid in cash, or €500,000 for a PLC. Disqualification goes further. A person convicted on indictment of an offence in relation to a company, or of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, is disqualified for five years under section 839, or for another period the court orders.

How to Set Up a Limited Company in Ireland

Here is how to set up a limited company in Ireland in five stages. For reliable LTD company formation, Ireland filing steps have to run in this order, because each one needs the one before it. Our guide on how to set up a company in Ireland walks through all 12 steps in detail.

Agree the Officers and the Owners

Setting up an LTD company in Ireland starts with who will be a director, who will be the secretary, who holds the shares and whether any director lives in the EEA. That decides whether a bond is needed and whether any director needs Form VIF, which has the longest lead time.

Clear and Reserve the Name

We check the name against the register and the restricted words, then reserve it on CORE if a launch date depends on it. You can search the register yourself through the Companies Registration Office search.

Prepare the Constitution and Form A1

The constitution and Form A1 are drafted from the same details: the name, the registered office, the officers with their consents and the subscribers with their shares. Every name, date of birth and address must match the identity documents, or the CRO returns the file.

Limited Company Registration in Ireland With the CRO

Form A1 and the constitution are filed together online through CORE, the CRO's system, with the €50 fee that is already inside our price. The CRO aims to issue the certificate within five working days under the Fé Phráinn A1 online scheme, or ten under the ordinary one. The Ireland company registration process guide covers the CRO side in detail.

After the Certificate

Three things follow. The beneficial owners go on the Register of Beneficial Ownership within five months. The company registers for tax on Form TR2, or Form TR2 (FT) if it is not resident, through Revenue Online Service. And Revenue must receive the company's particulars within 30 days of trading starting, or the company faces a €4,000 penalty and the secretary €3,000.

Documents Needed for Setting Up an LTD Company in Ireland

The CRO needs only Form A1, the constitution and the officers' details. Most documents below are for the identity checks we run before forming the company, and the bank asks for the same set later. A complete pack saves more time than anything else when setting up an LTD company in Ireland.

For Each Director, Shareholder and Secretary

• Passport: A valid passport, copied and certified by a lawyer, notary or accountant.
• Proof of address: A utility bill or bank statement in your name, less than 3 months old.
• PPS number or Form VIF: An Irish PPS number, or Form VIF for an Identified Person Number.
• Consent to act: Signed by each director and by the secretary.
• Form BEN2: For a beneficial owner with no PPS number, sworn before a notary abroad.
• Source of funds: Proof of where the money for the shares and the setup comes from.

For the Company

We need the name and a backup, the registered office, the share structure and a short description of the business: what it sells, to whom and how money comes in. A corporate shareholder adds its certificate of incorporation, its constitution and an ownership chart up to the individuals. Copies must be certified, documents not in English or Irish need a certified translation, and names must match on every page. Our page on Irish company formation requirements sets out the rule behind each item.

Ireland Limited Company Formation Cost in 2026

Our price for Ireland limited company formation starts from €1,899, paid once, for a standard private company limited by shares. That covers most cases, holding and trading companies included. It includes the structure advice, your KYC pack, the constitution, Form A1, the €50 CRO fee, the registered office and company secretary at formation, and the first beneficial ownership filing, all confirmed in writing before you pay. Trusts, funds, regulated firms and high-risk activities are quoted separately and can cost more.

The price for setting up a limited company in Ireland is paid once, but the company costs money every year. The table adds the running costs of the first 12 months.

The CRO fee is never a separate line, because it is inside our price. The annual return costs €20 only when it is on time, and €120 from the day after the deadline.

First-Year LTD Cost by Profile

What the company does and who owns it move the total more than anything else. For limited company formation in Ireland, these planning ranges build on the table above.

Your own total moves with the activity, any audit, the number of owners, payroll and the account plan. These are planning ranges, and your written quote is what counts. Read more: the cost of starting a company in Ireland and cheap company formation in Ireland.

Running an Irish LTD Each Year

Once you set up a limited company in Ireland, it has three yearly jobs: the annual return to the CRO, the financial statements behind it and the corporation tax return. Each has a fixed date, and two of the penalties are expensive.

The Annual Return and Its Deadline

The first annual return, Form B1, is made up to the date six months after incorporation and filed within 56 days, with no accounts attached. Later returns carry the financial statements. On time the fee is €20. Late, a €100 fee applies from the next day, then €3 a day up to €1,200 per return, and these fees are not tax deductible.

Financial Statements for Small and Micro Companies

What an LTD files with the CRO depends on its size. A small company meets two of three tests in the current and previous year: turnover up to €15 million, a balance sheet total up to €7.5 million and no more than 50 employees. It can file abridged statements, a balance sheet and notes, with no profit and loss account and no directors' report.

A micro company meets two of three lower tests: turnover up to €900,000, a balance sheet total up to €450,000 and no more than 10 employees. It files a balance sheet with fewer notes, and needs no separate directors' report where the details are given as a note. Investment companies and financial holding companies cannot use the micro regime.

Audit Exemption and How Late Filing Removes It

A small or micro LTD can usually skip the statutory audit. Since the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024, a company that files its annual return late more than once in five years loses that exemption for two years. One missed date can mean several thousand euro of new cost.

Tax for an Irish Limited Company

An Irish LTD pays corporation tax at 12.5% on trading income and 25% on non-trading income. For an owner setting up a limited company in Ireland, the bigger question is how profit reaches you, as salary or as dividends, because each route is taxed differently. Read more: the tax benefits of setting up a limited company.

Corporation Tax at 12.5% and 25%

Trading income is taxed at 12.5%. Rent, interest, investment income and income from excepted trades are taxed at 25%. The 15% minimum rate applies only to groups with global turnover above €750 million. The CT1 return is due within nine months of the year end, by the 23rd day of that month.

The Close Company Surcharge

Most owner-managed LTDs are close companies, controlled by a small group of people. A close company that keeps rent, interest or investment income without paying it out pays a 20% surcharge on it, and a close service company, such as a consultancy, pays 15% on half of its undistributed trading income. A dividend within 18 months of the end of the accounting period removes the charge.

Salary or Dividends

A salary runs through payroll, with income tax, USC and PRSI deducted under PAYE, and it reduces the company's taxable profit. A dividend is paid from profit that has already borne corporation tax. An Irish-resident shareholder then pays income tax on the gross dividend at 20% or 40%, plus USC and PRSI.

Revenue's own example shows €521 of tax on a €1,000 gross dividend for a higher-rate taxpayer, or 52.1%. The right mix depends on your other income and when you need the money, so plan it with your accountant before the first year end.

Dividend Withholding Tax

An Irish company must withhold dividend withholding tax, or DWT, at 25% from each dividend. The return is due by the 14th day of the month after the dividend is paid, even when no tax was withheld. An Irish-resident shareholder gets a credit for the 25% against their own tax, and a refund if it is more than they owe.

Some shareholders are exempt if they give the company a declaration first. An Irish-resident company uses Form V3. A non-resident individual in another EU or EEA state or a treaty country uses Form V2A, certified by their own tax authority, and a non-resident company uses Form V2B, subject to conditions.

Taking a Loan From Your Own Company

Under section 438, a loan from a close company to a shareholder is treated as a payment made after 20% income tax, and the company pays that tax to Revenue. In Revenue's example, a €12,000 loan is grossed up to €15,000, with €3,000 of tax due. The company can claim it back when the loan is repaid, within four years.

Moving From Sole Trader to a Limited Company

Many owners who ask how to set up an LTD company in Ireland already trade as a sole trader. Starting a limited company in Ireland at the right moment moves profit into the 12.5% band and puts a legal wall between the business and your home, but it also brings more filings.

When the Switch Makes Sense

The usual triggers are profit you do not need to spend, a contract with real liability, a first employee or an investor who wants shares. While profit is modest and all of it is spent, setting up a limited company in Ireland adds filings that can cost more than they save.

What Changes on the Day the Company Starts

When you set up a limited company in Ireland to take over a sole trader business, the company is a new legal person. It needs its own tax registration on Form TR2, its own bank account and invoices in its own name. Contracts should move to the company, because a contract you signed as a sole trader stays yours.

Transferring the Business and Section 600 Relief

Moving goodwill and other business assets into the company can trigger capital gains tax. Section 600 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 defers that gain when an individual transfers a business as a going concern, with all its assets or all except cash, to a company in exchange for shares, for real commercial reasons. The gain is taken off the base cost of the shares, so tax falls due only when they are sold. Any part paid in cash is taxed at once.

Business Banking for a New Irish LTD

A new LTD needs an account in its own name before it can invoice anyone, and it cannot apply until the certificate exists, so the account is the last step in setting up a limited company in Ireland. Irish high street banks take weeks with a new company, while our partners open accounts in days.

To be fair to the banks, an Irish bank is cheaper on the monthly fee alone, and a start-up offer can make it free for two years. Almost everything else favours our partners for a new LTD: days instead of weeks, no branch visit, and far lower costs once money crosses a border. Read more: business bank accounts in Ireland for new companies.

Why Irish Banks Are Slow With a New LTD

Since Ulster Bank and KBC left, AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB are the three high street banks for business accounts. A new LTD has no trading record, AIB's online route ends with a branch identity check, and Bank of Ireland meets limited companies through an adviser. If your owners live abroad, see how to open a business bank account in Ireland as a non-resident.

The Faster Route Through Our Banking Partners

We work with regulated payment partners that open multi-currency accounts for new Irish LTDs in days, online and with no minimum balance. We build the application from the same KYC pack as the company file. For euro payments, Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation means Irish customers and suppliers cannot refuse an IBAN from another EU country. Read what an EMI account is if these accounts are new to you.

Irish LTD vs a UK Ltd, a Malta Ltd and a Cyprus Ltd

Founders setting up a limited company in Ireland usually weigh it against three other private limited companies: the UK Ltd next door, and the Malta and Cyprus Ltd inside the EU. All four are formed in about a week with us, so the choice turns on tax, EU access and price.

The UK Ltd is the cheapest to start and the only one outside the single market. Among the EU options, Ireland limited company formation costs the most, but the Irish LTD gives the clearest rate for a company that actually trades, while Malta and Cyprus suit companies that mainly receive passive income.

Irish LTD vs a UK Ltd

A UK Ltd starts from €350 with us. Under section 270 of the UK Companies Act 2006, a private company does not have to appoint a company secretary, while every Irish LTD must have one. What the UK Ltd lacks is the single market: it trades with the EU as a third country, with customs formalities. Choose the UK for cost, and Ireland when customers or contracts must sit inside the EU. See our UK company registration guide.

Irish LTD vs a Malta Ltd

Malta taxes company profit at 35% and refunds six sevenths to non-resident shareholders after a dividend, which brings the effective rate to about 5%. That is lower than 12.5%, but it comes back as a refund after a distribution rather than as a lower rate on the profit. An Irish LTD is simpler for a company that trades. Read about setting up a Malta holding company.

Irish LTD vs a Cyprus Ltd

Cyprus moved to a 15% flat rate in 2026. That is above Ireland's 12.5% on trading income but below the 25% Irish rate on passive income. A company living on dividends, interest or royalties often fits Cyprus better, and one with staff and customers fits Ireland. Compare holding company formation in Cyprus.

Who an Irish LTD Is Wrong For

Before working out how to set up an LTD company in Ireland, check that you need one. An Irish LTD is a poor place to park a company that does nothing: even when dormant, it needs a registered office, a secretary, an annual return and a tax return every year. If cost is your main test and you do not need the EU, a UK Ltd starts from €350 with us.

Starting a limited company in Ireland is also wrong for a small business that spends all its profit, where the company adds filings without saving tax. A founder outside the EEA who will neither appoint an EEA director nor buy the bond cannot form one at all. And a company that needs a stated purpose for a lender or a regulator should be a DAC.

Common Mistakes When Setting Up a Limited Company in Ireland

Our checks give you reliable LTD company formation, Ireland filing steps in the right order and a calendar for the first year. These four mistakes still come up most often.

Making the Sole Director the Secretary

This is the most common error when setting up an LTD company in Ireland with one founder. Section 134 stops one person signing as both director and secretary, so a second individual or a corporate secretary is needed before Form A1 goes in.

Missing the First Annual Return

The first return falls six months after incorporation and needs no accounts, so it gets forgotten. A second late return inside five years also costs the company its audit exemption for two years.

Taking Money Out as an Informal Loan

Moving money from the company account to your own and sorting it out later creates a loan to a participator, and the company pays income tax at 20% on the grossed-up amount until it is repaid. Pay a salary or a dividend instead, and record it properly.

Paying a Dividend Without the DWT Paperwork

A dividend to a non-resident shareholder is free of the 25% withholding tax only if the declaration was in place first, and the DWT return is due even when nothing was withheld.

Bottom Line

An Irish LTD gives a trading business limited liability, a 12.5% rate on trading profits and an EU base that works in English. It needs one director, a separate secretary and no minimum capital, and Ireland limited company formation takes about a week, fully online.

Knowing how to set up a limited company in Ireland is mostly about the details around it: the EEA director rule, the identity numbers, the first annual return, and how you take money out through salary, dividends and the DWT return. We form the LTD from €1,899, supply the secretary and the office, and show you the first-year budget before you pay. For the other company types Ireland offers, our Ireland company formation guide is the next page to read.