Operating your Business from Ireland

The development of the European single market during the 1980s and 1990s, together with a consistently pro-business attitude on the part of the Irish Government has seen the emergence of Ireland as one of the fastest-growing European states, and the establishment of the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin, along with the Shannon Airport tax-free area, has led to the development of a substantial offshore business sector, made more or less redundant in 2003 by Ireland's adoption of a universal 12.5% corporate tax rate.

Solutions offered by Irish Incorporations Ltd. are based on matching client requirements with different types of company structures and other measures designed to maximise wealth. 

Ireland Corporate Financial Sector

The 'offshore' environment provided by the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin is attractive to multinationals looking to locate treasury management and other corporate financial functions in a fiscally-flexible but sophisticated environment, and many such operations have based themselves there.

Application for a certificate entitling a company to favourable tax treatment is made to the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the certificate is issued by the Minister of Finance. 

Among the stated activities which the IFSC was set up to encourage and accommodate are a number of corporate functions, including the following:

• the provision of foreign currency services for non-residents;
• the carrying on of financial services for non-residents including global money management, dealing and trading in securities denominated in foreign currencies;
• the provision for non-residents of services of or facilities for processing, control, accountancy, communication, clearing, settlement or information storage in relation to financial activities; and
• the development of or supply of software for use in the provision of services or facilities mentioned in the last item.

Since 2003, companies established in the IFSC are supervised by the Irish Financial Services Authority. 

It is not necessary to establish a separate subsidiary in order to carry out corporate financial functions in the IFSC; there are agency companies and 'shared service centres' which provide certificated services to overseas client corporations for a number of the more usual corporate functions.

Ireland Licensing, Royalties and Franchising

Ireland is a convenient location in which to base companies for the collection of royalties or other payments resulting from the exploitation of intellectual property rights. 

The activities eligible for Royalty treatment are: Activities relating to the acquisition, disposal, license, sub-license and exploitation generally of intellectual property rights.

Acquisition by the Irish company of the rights in the first place can usually be carried out without a stamp duty or transfer charge; and there are no thin capitalisation rules, so that capital duties will be minimal.