Company formation in Europe / Ireland

A company formation in Ireland can be ordered online and the time frame to form the company is 5-10 days. An Irish company can do business anywhere in the world and within the EU. In July 2009 Irleand simplified the company formation process for EU-nationals by waiving the requirement to appoint a local Irish director. Since the Irish government also introduced tax incentives for start up and small companies in October 2008 (40.000 Euros profit tax-free for the first 3 years, if the company was formed and commenced trading in 2009) Ireland is now one of the best places for a company formation in Europe. As a consequence entrepreneurs and large companies from all over the world choose Ireland as their corporate home.

Forming an Irish company as an attractive alternative

Being one of the old EU member states, Ireland benefits from the Euro, low corporation tax rates (12,5%) and less bureaucracy. Irish company legislation benefits from "best of both worlds" - British style Limited / PLC and European Entities, such as European economic interest groupings, Societas Europaea and Cross border merger. The official language in Ireland is English which makes the company formation and administration easier compared to Eastern European countries. In contrast to UK Limited's or Swiss companies there is also no currency risk when doing business within the European Union. Ireland has signed Tax treaties with all major countries worldwide and is an OECD white-listed country.

Company Types in Ireland

Private Company limited by shares

Public limited company

Limited or General Partnership

Foreign company (a.k.a. branch or external company)

Trading name (a.k.a. DBA)

Company limited by guarantee (no share capital)

Company limited by guarantee (with share capital)

Single member company

Unlimited company

UCITS public limited companies

European economic interest groupings (EEIG)

Societas Europaea (SE)

Cross border merger

90% of all small and medium sized companies in Ireland are Private Limited Companies.