How to Set Up a Company in Ireland in 2026

If you set up a company in Ireland, your business gets an EU base, a 12.5% corporation tax rate on trading profits and a legal system that runs in English. A private limited company needs just one director, has no minimum share capital, and is registered through a fully online registry.

What makes it hard is the order of the steps. 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 PPS number or a CRO identity number before filing. Then the ownership, tax and annual return deadlines start the day the company exists.

With us, setting up a company in Ireland is one piece of work. Binderr forms the company itself and runs each step in the right order: the name check, the constitution, the CRO filing, the identity numbers, the ownership register and the tax registration. One team, no email chains, and your company is ready in about a week.

Why Founders Set Up a Company in Ireland

Ireland suits founders who want to trade inside the EU, pay a low rate on real trading profit and work in English. The company itself is light to run: one director, no capital floor and a registry that works online. Those points explain why starting a company in Ireland is such a common first step into Europe.

12.5% Tax on Trading Profits

Revenue taxes trading income at 12.5% and non-trading income at 25%. Non-trading income means rent, interest, investment returns and income from excepted trades. A company that really sells goods or services from Ireland pays the lower rate. The 15% global minimum tax only reaches groups with turnover above €750 million. Read more: the benefits of setting up a company in Ireland.

An English-Speaking Base Inside the EU

Ireland is an EU member state that uses the euro, so an Irish company sells into the other member states without customs formalities. Since the UK left, Ireland and Malta are the only member states with English as an official language. IDA Ireland client companies employed 312,468 people at the end of 2025, across more than 1,800 multinational operations.

A Company That Is Simple to Run

The private company limited by shares, or LTD, is the structure most founders use. It needs one director, can have between 1 and 149 members, and has no minimum share capital, so 100 shares of €1 each is a common start. Its constitution is a single document with no objects clause, so the company can carry on any lawful business without changing its rules.

A Registry That Works Online

The Companies Registration Office, the CRO, took over 95% of all documents electronically in 2025. It registered 26,533 new companies that year and held 340,693 live companies at the end of it. Form A1, the incorporation application, is accepted online only, and on the fastest scheme the CRO aims to issue the certificate within five working days.

Tax-Free Foreign Dividends for Holding Companies

Since 1 January 2025, an Irish company can receive foreign dividends free of Irish corporation tax under a participation exemption. The parent must hold at least 5% of the subsidiary for 12 months without a break. The subsidiary must be resident in the EU, the EEA or a treaty country, and not on the EU list of non-cooperative territories. For a group planning Ireland holding company formation, this replaces the old credit calculation.

How to Set Up a Company in Ireland

The practical answer to "how do I set up a company in Ireland" is 12 steps in a fixed order. You choose the company type and the name, appoint the officers, meet the director residency rule, file Form A1 with the CRO, then register the owners and the tax numbers. We run every step for you.

Most of these answers are fixed by the Companies Act 2014. The two that change from one founder to the next are the director residency position and the identity numbers. Those two decide whether the company is formed in a week or a month. For most founders, learning how to set up a company in Ireland comes down to those two points, so we settle them on the first call.

Choose the Company Type

The type decides how many directors you need and what the constitution must say. Most founders pick one of four.

The private company limited by shares (LTD) is the default for a trading business. One director is enough, the constitution has no objects clause, and the company can do any lawful business. Our guide to the Irish limited company covers it in depth.

A designated activity company (DAC) states its objects in the constitution and needs at least two directors. Joint ventures, special purpose vehicles and companies holding a single licence use it when a lender or a regulator wants the purpose written down.

A company limited by guarantee (CLG) has no share capital and needs two directors. Charities and clubs use it, but it cannot take investors or pay dividends.

A public limited company (PLC) needs at least €25,000 of allotted share capital, a quarter paid up before it trades, and two directors. It is built for raising money from the public.

A foreign company can register a branch instead, and a freelancer can trade as a sole trader, but neither creates a separate Irish company. Our ultimate guide to company formation in Ireland sets out all six structures and the rule that separates each one.

Check and Reserve the Company Name

When setting up a company, Ireland's registry checks the name before anything else. The CRO refuses a name that is identical to, a shortened version of, or too similar to one already on the register. It also refuses offensive names and names that suggest state sponsorship, and words such as bank or university need approval first. You can check existing names through the Companies Registration Office search.

The name must end with the right suffix: Limited or Ltd (Teoranta or Teo in Irish) for an LTD, and DAC, CLG or PLC for the other types. A name can be reserved on CORE for 28 days for €25, with one extension of another 28 days for a further €25. If the company is formed inside that window, the incorporation fee drops by €25. Our page on Irish company name availability explains the checks.

Appoint the Directors and the Company Secretary

An LTD needs at least one director, and every other type needs two. Directors must be over 18 and each one signs a consent to act. Under section 142 of the Companies Act 2014, one person cannot hold more than 25 directorships at once, with some exemptions.

Every Irish company also needs a company secretary. If there is only one director, the secretary must be a different person or a corporate secretary, because section 134 stops one person signing as both. We provide a corporate secretary where you have no second person.

Since 11 June 2023, every director named on Form A1 must give a PPS number. A director without one files Form VIF, signed before a notary public when it is signed outside Ireland, and the CRO issues an Identified Person Number before Form A1 can go in.

Meet the EEA Director Rule or Buy the Section 137 Bond

When you plan how to set up a company, Ireland's director residency rule is the first thing to check. At least one director must be resident in a member state of the European Economic Area. A director in Germany or Spain meets it as well as one in Dublin. For many founders abroad, this rule decides how to incorporate a company in Ireland at all. The non-resident director rules for Irish companies set out the detail.

Without an EEA-resident director, the company must hold a bond under section 137 of the Companies Act 2014. It has a value of €25,000, runs for at least two years and is not refundable. Published broker prices for a two-year bond run from about €1,500 to about €1,960, VAT included.

Section 140 offers another route: a certificate from the Registrar that the company has a real and continuous link with economic activity in the State. A brand new company cannot usually show that yet, so most founders outside Europe start with the bond.

Set the Registered Office

The registered office must be a physical address in Ireland. CRO letters, Revenue notices and legal papers are served there, so a PO box is not accepted. Market prices start at about €375 plus VAT a year. Ours is included at formation, and the renewal is quoted with your setup.

Prepare the Constitution and Form A1

An LTD has a one-document constitution. The other types use a memorandum and articles of association that state the company's objects. The subscribers sign the constitution, and each signature is witnessed and dated.

Form A1 carries the company name, the registered office, the directors and secretary with their consent, the subscribers and their shares. Every name, date of birth and address must match the identity documents exactly. A missing middle name or an old address is enough for the CRO to send the file back.

File With the Companies Registration Office

Form A1 and the constitution are submitted together when you register a company in Ireland online through CORE, the CRO's system. The CRO fee is €50, and it sits inside our price rather than on a separate invoice. Under the Fé Phráinn A1 online scheme the CRO aims to issue the certificate of incorporation within five working days, and within ten working days under the ordinary online scheme. Knowing how to incorporate a company in Ireland quickly comes down to a file that is right the first time, because a rejected file goes back into the queue.

File the Beneficial Owners With the RBO

Within five months of incorporation, the company must file its beneficial owners with the Register of Beneficial Ownership. A beneficial owner is anyone who owns or controls more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, directly or through other companies. Our guide to the ultimate beneficial owner explains how that test works through layers.

A beneficial owner without a PPS number completes Form BEN2, a declaration of identity, which must be sworn before a notary public when it is signed outside Ireland. The fine for failing to comply can reach €500,000 on conviction on indictment, so we file straight after the certificate issues.

Register for Tax on Form TR2

For a newly set-up company, Ireland's Revenue Commissioners want the CRO number before anything else. An Irish resident company then files Form TR2, and a non-resident company files Form TR2 (FT), through Revenue Online Service. One application covers corporation tax, VAT, employer PAYE and relevant contracts tax. Revenue also needs a separate statement of particulars within 30 days of trading starting, covered below.

Open the Business Account

No bank or payment provider can onboard a company that does not exist yet, so the account comes after the certificate. We prepare the bank file from the same KYC pack, so it goes in the week the company is registered.

Register for VAT and Payroll When Needed

An Irish-established business registers for VAT once turnover passes €42,500 for services or €85,000 for goods in any 12 months. The standard rate is 23%, with reduced rates of 13.5% and 9%. A business not established in Ireland that makes taxable supplies here must register whatever its turnover, so the thresholds do not protect a foreign seller.

Payroll works differently. The company needs an employer PAYE registration before it pays anyone, a director included, and every payment is then reported to Revenue in real time.

Set the First-Year Filing Calendar

The last step is a calendar with every date in it, from the Revenue statement to the first CT1. A newly set-up company in Ireland misses these dates because nothing reminds it, so we add them to our calendar at formation. The next sections list each deadline and its cost.

Documents Needed for Incorporating a Company in Ireland

The CRO itself asks for little: Form A1, the constitution and each officer's details. Most documents below are for the identity checks we run before forming the company, which the bank repeats later. A complete pack at the start is the biggest time saver when incorporating a company in Ireland.

For Every 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 from the last 3 months.
• PPS number or Form VIF: An Irish PPS number, or Form VIF to get an Identified Person Number.
• Form BEN2: For a beneficial owner with no PPS number, sworn before a notary abroad.
• Consent to act: Signed by every director and by the secretary.
• Source of funds: Proof of where the money for the shares and the setup comes from.

For the Company Itself

We need the proposed name and a backup, the registered office, the share structure and a plain description of the business: what it sells, to whom, in which countries and how money moves. That description goes into the tax registration and, almost word for word, into the bank application.

For a Parent Company or a Trust

If a company holds the shares, we need its certificate of incorporation, its constitution, its register of directors and an ownership chart up to the individuals at the top. A trust brings the trustees, settlor and beneficiaries into scope, and each layer adds time.

Certified Copies and Translations

Copies must be certified by a professional who confirms the person matches the photo, and anything not in English or Irish needs a certified translation. When setting up a company, Ireland accepts copies certified in your own country, so nobody has to travel. Our page on Irish company formation requirements lists the rules behind each document.

Cost of Setting Up a Company in Ireland in 2026

Our price for setting up a company in Ireland 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.

Starting a company in Ireland is a one-off cost, but running it is not. The table adds what the same company costs over its first 12 months.

The CRO fee never shows as its own line, because it is already in our price. The annual return is €20 only when it is on time: from the first late day it costs €120, and more each day after that.

First-Year Cost by Company Profile

Who owns the company and what it does moves the first-year cost more than anything else. These planning ranges build on the table above.

Your own number 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: what it costs to start a company in Ireland and our guide to company formation costs in other jurisdictions.

How Long It Takes to Set Up a Company in Ireland

With a complete file, setting up a company in Ireland takes about a week. When founders work out how to set up a company, Ireland's registry is rarely what slows them down. Collecting clean identity documents is, which is why the first days matter most.

The first four rows produce the company, which takes about a week in a clean case. The last three make it ready to trade, and they run side by side.

What Adds Days

Five things usually add time: a director who needs an Identified Person Number through Form VIF, ownership through several companies or a trust, documents that need certified translation, a name that clashes with one on the register, and an activity that needs a licence first. Two of these together can add weeks.

Keeping It to About a Week

We send one document list on day 1 and check every page before anything is filed. The name check, the VIF application and the bond run at the same time instead of one after another. The file reaches the CRO complete, and that keeps incorporating a company in Ireland inside the five working day scheme. The CRO side of the registration process in Ireland has its own guide.

What to Do in the First 90 Days After Incorporation

For a newly set-up company, Ireland's deadlines start running from incorporation. Some fall inside the first 90 days. Others fall later but need work in those first weeks. Each one costs money when it is missed.

The first row is the one new companies miss most. It does not appear on the certificate, and the penalty is far larger than the work involved.

Tell Revenue the Company Has Started Trading

Section 882 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 requires every new company to give Revenue a statement of its particulars within 30 days of starting to trade, and Revenue treats Form 11F CRO as meeting this duty.

Missing it is expensive. Under section 1073, the company is liable to a €4,000 penalty and the secretary to a separate €3,000 penalty. Revenue can also tell the Registrar, who may then begin to strike the company off. We track that date from formation, next to the tax registration, so it never arrives unprepared.

File the Ownership Register in the First Weeks

The law gives five months to file beneficial owners with the RBO, and that looks generous. It is not, when an owner abroad first needs a notarised Form BEN2. We file in the first weeks, not the fifth month.

Put the First Annual Return in the Diary

The first annual return is made up to the date 6 months after incorporation and must be filed within 56 days of it. It needs no accounts, which is why new companies forget it. Late, a €100 fee applies from the next day, then €3 a day up to €1,200, and these fees are not tax deductible.

A late return has a second cost. Under the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024, a company that files late more than once in five years loses audit exemption for two years. For a small company, that is several thousand euro of new cost.

Plan Corporation Tax From Day One

The first CT1 return is due within 9 months of the first year end, by the 23rd day of that month. Owner-managed companies should also know the close company surcharge. Undistributed rent, interest or investment income is charged an extra 20%, and a service company such as a consultancy pays 15% on half of its undistributed trading income.

A dividend paid within 18 months of the end of the accounting period removes the charge, so decide while the first accounts are being prepared.

How to Start a Company in Ireland as a Non-Resident

Founders abroad often ask us "how do I set up a company in Ireland without moving there?" You do not need to move, visit or open anything locally first. Documents are certified and notarised in your own country, the constitution is signed there, and the certificate arrives as a file. Two points need planning: the EEA director position and where the board takes its decisions.

No Residency Rule for Shareholders

Shareholders can be individuals or companies, of any nationality, living anywhere, and one person can own every share. The residency rule applies only to directors, and any EEA state satisfies it. That is what makes Ireland company formation for non-residents workable from almost anywhere, and why how to start a company in Ireland from abroad is really a question about directors. Starting a company in Ireland from outside Europe usually means the Section 137 bond, which we arrange as part of the setup.

Setting Up From the UK After Brexit

A UK company now sells into the EU as a third country, so many UK groups add an Irish subsidiary to hold EU contracts and invoice in euro. Our guide to setting up a company in Ireland from abroad covers the UK case in more detail.

Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland

A company in the Republic registers with the CRO in Dublin, sits inside the EU and pays 12.5% on trading profits. A Northern Ireland company is a UK company: it registers with Companies House and pays UK corporation tax at 19% or 25%. This page covers the Republic. For the other route, see our Northern Ireland company formation guide.

Tax Residence in Your Home Country

A company incorporated in Ireland is Irish tax resident unless a treaty says otherwise. Your home country may still claim the company if the directors really decide things there, and its controlled foreign company rules can tax the profits early. We settle where the board meets before filing. Read more: how to set up a company as a non-resident.

Opening a Business Bank Account for Your Irish Company

An Irish company holds euro from day one, which removes the currency problem a non-EU company faces. The account is still the step that needs planning when setting up a company in Ireland. Irish high street banks review a brand new company slowly, and owners abroad make that slower.

Why Irish Banks Are Slow With New Companies

A branch sees a company formed last month, with owners in another country, as a heavy file. It asks for the ownership chart, proof of source of funds, a business plan and often a meeting with a signatory. Reviews take weeks, refusals are rarely explained, and the next bank will ask whether you were refused before.

To be fair, a purely Irish company that only handles euro can pay less each month at a high street bank: AIB charges €4.50 a quarter for account maintenance under its schedule effective 1 July 2026. The picture changes once you invoice in dollars or sterling, because currency margins cost far more than a monthly fee. Our guide on how to open a business bank account in Ireland looks at the banks in detail.

The Faster Route Through Our Banking Partners

We work with regulated payment partners that open multi-currency business accounts for Irish companies in days, remotely, with no minimum balance. Their published plans run at about €30 to €100 a month, with much lower costs on international payments and currency exchange. We build the application from the same KYC pack as your company file and make the introduction. If these accounts are new to you, read what an EMI account is.

Because the company file and the bank file are built together, Ireland company formation with a bank account is one job for us, not two. Read more: business bank accounts in Ireland for new companies.

Ireland vs the UK, Cyprus and the Isle of Man

Founders setting up a company in Ireland usually weigh it against three other places. The UK is the low-cost neighbour outside the EU, Cyprus is the EU holding base, and the Isle of Man is the 0% tax Crown Dependency. We form companies in all four.

Speed is the same everywhere, so the choice comes down to tax, EU access and price. Ireland costs the most to start, and it gives the clearest rate for a company that actually trades.

Ireland vs the UK

A UK company starts from €350 with us, against €1,899 for an Irish one, and it costs less to run each year. What you lose is the single market: a UK company trades with the EU as a third country, with customs formalities and often an EU VAT registration anyway. Choose the UK on cost, and Ireland when the customers or contracts must sit inside the EU. See our UK company registration guide.

Ireland vs Cyprus

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

Ireland vs the Isle of Man

Most Isle of Man companies pay 0% company tax, and ours start from €1,499. The island sits outside the EU but inside the UK VAT area, so VAT is charged at 20%. It suits holding and international trading companies that do not need an EU base, while Ireland suits a business selling into the EU. See how to set up a company in the Isle of Man.

Who Should Not Set Up a Company in Ireland

Knowing how to start a company in Ireland only helps if Ireland is the right place for it. It is a poor place to keep a dormant company. Even with no activity, it needs an 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 company starts from €350 with us.

Setting up a company in Ireland is also wrong for three other founders. The first lives outside the EEA and will neither appoint an EEA director nor buy the bond, because at formation there is no other option. The second earns only passive income, which is taxed at 25% rather than 12.5% and may attract the close company surcharge. The third works in a licensed sector, such as payments or lending, and should settle the licence route with the regulator first.

Common Mistakes When Setting Up a Company in Ireland

These four mistakes are the most common, and each costs more to fix than to avoid.

Filing Before Every Director Has an Identity Number

Form A1 is rejected if any director lacks a valid PPS number or Identified Person Number. Founders abroad often start Form VIF last, which adds time at the very end. Start it on day 1.

Picking a Name the CRO Will Refuse

A name too close to an existing company, or one using a word like bank or university without approval, sends the file back. Check the register first, and reserve the name if a launch date depends on it.

Making the Sole Director the Secretary

Section 134 of the Companies Act 2014 stops one person signing as both director and secretary. A one-person company therefore needs a second individual or a corporate secretary before Form A1 goes in.

Missing the 30-Day Revenue Statement

Section 882 gives a new company 30 days from the start of trading to send Revenue its particulars. Founders focused on the CRO often miss it, and the penalties are €4,000 for the company and €3,000 for the secretary.

Bottom Line

Ireland gives a trading company a 12.5% rate, full access to the EU market and a registry that works online in days. The paperwork is light: one form, one constitution and a €50 fee. Learning how to set up a company in Ireland is mostly learning the order of the steps and the dates that follow.

Four things need to be right: the company type, the EEA director position, an identity number for every director, and the Revenue and RBO deadlines in the first months. We handle all four, form the company from €1,899 in about a week, and show you the first-year budget before you pay. For the wider picture, our ultimate guide to company formation in Ireland is the place to start.