Almost 1,000 multinational companies have chosen Ireland as their strategic European base due to our pro-business environment and attractive taxation rates. Ireland is proving itself to be an excellent country to setup in, there are many reasons to consider Ireland as a country to incorporate and run your business, such as:

• One of the main reasons to incorporate in Ireland is it has the lowest corporation tax rates in Europe at 12.5%.
• Companies can avail of a 25% tax credit against research and development costs.
• Ireland has double taxation agreements with more than 60 countries, including every major trading partner.
• The Irish Government have a solid policy to support new business. Enterprise Ireland, the body to assist business development abroad has successfully promoted Irish business and investment for many years.
• Growing population … young, well educated, highly skilled, flexible & multilingual
• Ireland is English speaking, Global companies such as Google, eBay, & Facebook have all decided to host their European headquarters here.
• Ireland is part of the EU and therefore enjoys:
  1. duty-free access to the world’s most valuable market from Ireland
  2. companies in the eurozone are not exposed to currency fluctuations when trading in the eurozone
  3. European citizens can move freely within the EU to live and work
• Competitive labour, rent and business costs
• Ireland is the closest EU country to the USA with frequent flights that are shorter than from any other EU member state. Ireland is exceptionally well connected to the US on a personal, business and political level and we are the only country in the world that hosts US immigration services locally. This further speeds up travel time on arrival in US airports. In addition, all European business centres are a maximum of three hours away by frequent, low-cost flights and direct, scheduled services of less than eight hours offer access to Middle East business hubs including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
• Ireland has an important enterprise culture, a very good young and well educated workforce and supportive environment and is a world leader in innovation.
• Excellent research facilities and capabilities
• New visa programs for non-nationals:
  Ireland has a consistent, decades-long policy of welcoming foreign-owned business from all over the world. Two new programs have just been announced:
• The Start-Up Entrepreneur Programme requires that applicants must have financial backing of no less than €75,000 and a business proposal which has a strong innovation component
• The Immigrant Investor Programme makes a provision for individuals with a successful business background to invest in and relocate to the State. A range of investment options are provided with different thresholds (from €400,000 – €2m) depending on the investment.
• The minimum share capital requirement to form a company limited by shares is just €1.00 .
• New Limited Companies available within 1 day.

Here are some world-wide companies who have seen the advantage of opening in Ireland:

• 9 of the world’s top 10 medical technology companies, such as Boston Scientific and Medtronic
• 8 of the top pharma/bio companies including Pfizer and Amgen
• 10 top internet companies, like Google and Facebook
• 3 of the top 5 games companies, such as EA and Activision

Requirments to setup an Irish Limited Company:

• At least two directors (one of which needs to be an EU resident director, if there are no EU resident directors a company bond needs to be put in place, the cost for this is €1,990)
• Directors need to be individuals and not companies
• Shareholders can be a company/companies or individuals
• Irish registered address: Every company registered in Ireland is required to have a registered office within Southern Ireland. Such address must be a full postal address within the State; a P.O. Box is not acceptable – we can provide this service (cost €345 + vat = €424.35 per year)
• Irish trading address: Every company registered in Ireland is required to have a trading address within Southern Ireland. Such address must be a full postal address within the State; a P.O. Box is not acceptable – we can provide this service (cost €345 + vat = €424.35 per year)

Sandra O’Neill, CompanySetup.ie – 00353-1-2848911