RBK Doing Business in Ireland Guide 2026

Over the past year, Ireland’s economy has demonstrated strong resilience and growth, supported by multinational investment, a robust labour market and continued foreign direct investment.

Although growth is expected to moderate in the near term, the underlying fundamentals of the Irish economy remain strong. Ireland continues to offer businesses a stable and attractive environment for investment, innovation and international trade.

Against this backdrop, the Finance Act 2025 was enacted, introducing a number of new measures that businesses will need to consider to ensure compliance.

Several important legislative changes were introduced over the past year, with further developments expected in the coming months. From a tax perspective, notable measures introduced in the Finance Act 2025 include:

• Expansion of Ireland’s group definition for withholding tax relief on certain interest and royalty payments.
• Further enhancements to Ireland’s “participation exemption” in respect of qualifying foreign dividends.
• Increase in the lifetime limit for Revised Entrepreneur Relief from €1 million to €1.5 million for disposals from 1 January 2026. This allows the first €1.5m of qualifying gains on the disposal of qualifying business assets to be taxed at 10% CGT, rather than the standard 33% rate.
• Implementation of DAC 8, incorporating the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) into Irish law.
• Implementation of DAC 9, introducing a standardised Top-Up Tax Information Return (TIR).

Outside of tax developments, additional reporting obligations have also been introduced:

• The Gender Pay Gap Information Act and associated Regulations require employers in Ireland to publish Gender Pay Gap (GPG) data. The requirements have been introduced on a phased basis, and since 2025 employers with 50 or more employees must report annually. These regulations aim to promote pay transparency and encourage organisations to address gender pay disparities.

As highlighted in our Doing Business in Ireland Guide 2026, Ireland continues to be a stable and competitive location for business. While reporting obligations have increased, many of the measures introduced aim to streamline compliance and enhance transparency.

View the report here