We are very pleased to announce the release of our Doing Business in Ireland Guide for 2024. 

View our guide here: RBK - Doing Business in Ireland 2024

The Irish economy has held up well during a period of high inflation and subsequent rising interest rates and has achieved record levels of employment. It is clear from recent announcements from the ECB as well that the increased interest rates have had the desired impact on inflation across the EU and indications are that interest rates will be cut in the next meeting of the ECB in June. It was against this backdrop that Finance Act 2023 was passed into law which includes a number of additional measures where care will be required to ensure compliance, we have outlined briefly a number of these changes below.

There were some important changes made to laws in Ireland over the past year and yet still further changes expected over the coming months. Some changes from a tax perspective that are of note include the following:

• The transposition of the OECD Pillar II minimum effective tax rate requirements into Irish law. This change had been mooted over the last couple of years so this will not come as a surprise to most and it will only impact the largest corporate groups. However, care will be needed to ensure compliance should your business meet the requirements. 
• Changes were made to the R&D regime including the addition of a requirement to notify Revenue within a specified time period of the intention to make an R&D claim. This may catch a lot of company’s off guard and may result in some losing out on valid R&D claims. 
• Whilst not yet legislated for it is expected that a participation exemption in respect of foreign dividends will be introduced by the Irish Government. In short the legislation is expected to exempt certain qualifying foreign dividends from corporation tax. The consultation period in respect of the legislation closed recently. We will keep the matter under review and will communicate further developments.

Outside of the tax changes there were also a couple of other reporting obligations that were introduced:

• Starting in 2025, the EU will require large and listed companies to disclose information on risks and opportunities related to their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices, with a particular focus on the impact of their activities on people and the environment. 
• The Gender Pay Gap Information Act and Regulations require employers in Ireland to publish information on their Gender Pay Gap (GPG). Each December a company meeting the relevant requirements must publish a report on their website that details their hourly gender pay gap across a range of metrics.

As you can see from our Doing Business in Ireland Guide 2024 Ireland remains a stable and competitive country in which to do business. Even though reporting obligations may have increased, measures introduced in Ireland allow for such obligations to be reported as seamlessly as possible.

View our guide here: RBK - Doing Business in Ireland 2024

Contact Us:

 If you would like further assistance after reviewing the guide please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.

• Ronan McGivern, International Tax & Business Advisory Partner
• Jackie Masterson, Head of Tax, International Tax Partner
• Richard McAufield, Taxation Director