Starting a Business in Ireland or relocate to Ireland

We are getting more and more clients and enquiries from overseas entrepreneurs looking to either start their business in Ireland or relocate here. The reasons are clear and let’s admit it tax is often the beacon attracting people but the other advantages of doing business in Ireland are manifold.

This is the first of a series of articles outlining reasons to come here.

Unfair advantage

Start your business or relocate it to Ireland 2We live on an island on the western edge of Europe but with an outside influence on the EU.

We speak the queen’s English for better or worse and Britain is a massive market on our doorstep. We live in a country with stable politics, working institutions and a business friendly attitude.

Our weather is mild if a little damp but rarely suffers from the extreme stuff we see around the globe.

These are massive strategic advantages that are not going anywhere.

Furthermore, there used to be two countries in the middle of the diagram right but there will soon only be one.

Friendly and talented

The other thing we have going for us is the people and culture of welcome and friendliness that is endemic in Ireland. Genuine curiosity and craic is abundant.

We have a well educated and highly skilled workforce but as the tech giants, most of whom have headquarters in Ireland, well know you can attract the best talent from anywhere in the EU to come to Ireland to work.

The tech giants also support an eco-system of tech start-ups and service companies that thrive in clusters that are found all over the country. Allied to that is an excellent state infrastructure for supporting export led / employment-creating growth.

Tax

Firstly there is no point in coming here if you are thinking about a boiler-plate operation where you get the low tax rate without the substance to your presence. This type of operation will ultimately not get far. If it gets big enough to matter it will have to get its house in order and add some substance to its operation in Ireland.

Management and control need to be exercised here which means regular board meetings and strategy and policy are developed here. There really needs to be some footprint on the ground also with somebody doing the core activity. In our opinion the business case for Ireland needs to factor in travel for board meetings and a warm body on the ground doing the do.

After this the advantages are many, especially the 12.5% tax rate which is more or less the best around. Actually most ordinary people accept that it is a good rate and are not interested in the tortured constructions of the Apples of the world to bring their tax rate closer to zero.

This effective rate can go even lower if you are involved in R&D and lower again if you develop IP and sell it. We now have a €1m capital gains tax exemption for an entrepreneur selling her shares. You can raise funds using tax efficient EIIS schemes and your investors will benefit. There are other advantages around holding companies in Ireland and we have a double tax agreement with most countries.

Ireland is not a tax haven but a place where there are pro-business tax incentives which benefit society as a whole.

Summary

To sum up lets reflect on some of the darker aspects of Ireland, housing and homelessness can’t be ignored, and will be impacted by more people. Cost of living can be high. Although we are a friendly bunch we drink a good bit and there are always pockets of racism and discrimination that appear. We can be frustrated with the weather a lot.

But a lot of these problems are everywhere you look around the globe in some shape or form and are common. If you consider we are part of the Anglophone world and the EU Market with Brexit coming along. Many opportunities for funding, locating in a cluster, hiring talent, developing IP, grants and access to export markets are available along with the tax incentives it is worthy of any true entrepreneur’s attention.

So if you are one of those boys or girls please get in touch.