Irish Double Tax Treaties

The agreements signed in order to avoid the double taxation of income and profits by Ireland all over the years are called “Double Tax Treaties” and are elaborated mostly after the global OECD model. Our team of Irish lawyers can offer you consultation related to the benefits of double tax agreements, and they can also help you reduce business costs by applying legal tax minimization methods.

These are the countries who signed double tax treaties with Ireland so far: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Rep., Slovenia, South Africa, Spain , Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia.

There are of two kinds of advantages related to profits: through exemptions or through credit and granted on the profits accomplished by a legal entity with presence in Ireland but with residence in a signatory partner. The exemption method is when the profits are not taxed at all in Ireland and the credit is granted when the profit is charged but a credit on the amount is offered in the country of origin. The usual corporate tax is 12.5 % on trading income and 25% for non-trading income.

 

Other provisions are related to the withholding taxes on dividends, interests and royalties paid to the foreign legal entities which are charged with 20%. Due to the double tax treaties provisions, the withholding tax can be exempt or partially taxed. The rate is not bigger than 15% in case of a treaty country.

 

In order to beneficiate from these provisions, the legal entities must deliver evidence of their status of payable entity in the country of origin. Usually it consists in a tax certificate issued by the foreign authorities is delivered to the Irish Tax Authorities.

 

You can discuss more about the double taxation treaties with our Irish accountants. Upon request, our team can answer specific questions about the scope of a treaty signed with a certain country and the protocols that are currently in force for tax relief. We also provide complete bookkeeping services, assistance for tax filing and payment, payroll and more.

In order to avoid the tax frauds, each treaty has a special provision regarding the tax exchange information, which clearly stipulates that the tax authorities from Ireland can request details regarding a legal entity operating on its territory and conversely.

If these provisions are not present in the treaty, special protocols regarding the exchange of information are signed between the parties. 

If you need more information about the double tax treaties concluded by Ireland, do not hesitate to contact our Irish lawyers.