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Invest in Ireland

Looking to invest in Ireland? The IDA Ireland offers a variety of support services and incentives to new investors and existing clients, from funding and grants, to property search advice. IDA maintains long-term relationships with investors to continue to support companies so they can grow and prosper within the Irish economy.

IDA attracts inward investment by:

• Concentrating their efforts on business sectors that are closely suited to the emerging needs of Ireland`s economy, and that compete in a global market from operations set up in Ireland.
• Compiling current statistics and facts on R&D, key business sectors, and locations within Ireland.
• Securing collaboration between international businesses, academia, and research centres.
• Actively developing world-recognised clusters of knowledge-based activities, in conjunction with Ireland`s policy of becoming a 'knowledge-based economy`.
• Providing information and statistics.
• Assisting in setting up businesses in Ireland.
• Introducing potential investors to local industries and government.
• Providing advice on property solutions.

Financial Assistance/Grants

Research Development and Innovation Grant (RD&I) Support:
 

• Funding is available for operational expenditure including: researchers and support personnel, travel expenses, training schemes, management training and other project activity related expenses.
• Support is available with scaling up your R&D activity, which might need extra capital expenditure on new technology and equipment, or on altering or creating new R&D facilities.
• Support in advancing your R&D strategy where you may need to use specialised consultancy and technology.

Other Grant Schemes include:
 

• Capital Grant
• Employment Grant
• R&D Capability
• Training Grant

Incentives, Tax and Others

Investment Incentives...

The investment incentives available in Ireland to foreign investors are ranked among the best in the world, according to the 2009 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.

Such incentives include:

• Highly competitive corporate tax rate of 12.5%
• No tax paid on earnings from intellectual property where the primary R&D work was conducted in Ireland
• A recently introduced R&D Tax Credit, created to encourage companies to conduct new and/or additional R&D activity in Ireland
• The abolition of stamp duty on intellectual property rights

Double Taxation Agreements

Last year, Ireland signed comprehensive double taxation agreements with over 50 countries, in order to secure and support international business. 46 of these are already in force, allowing for the elimination or mitigation of double taxation with the following countries:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovak, Republic Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Republic of Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam and Zambia.

Ireland is continually enlarging this agreement network, with 8 new agreements recently completed and several more still being developed: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kuwait, Moldova, Morocco, Serbia and Thailand.

Foreign Dividend Income

Foreign dividend income is liable to tax in Ireland, but it is possible to acquire support so that no further Irish tax will occur. Companies may go down the route of:
 

• Foreign tax credit pooling
• Double taxation agreements.
• The EU Parent - Subsidiary Directive.

R&D Tax Credit

Irish tax-resident companies within the European Economic Area (EEA) can claim a 25% tax credit against qualifying R&D expenditure. The R&D tax credit system can be:
 

• Flexible, allowing companies whose corporation tax liability is insufficient to claim the credit via a refund by the revenue commissioners.
• Claimable against "qualifying buildings" which are defined as buildings with a minimum R&D usage of 35% over a defined 4 years period.
• Accredited to R&D work sub-contracted to unconnected parties, up to a maximum of 10% of the company`s qualifying R&D expenditure in any one year.
• Outsourced to European universities to the amount of 5%.

Recruitment Support

• Training Grant
• Employment Grant

Business Accommodation Assistance

Stamp duty tax charge has been abolished from the transfer of Intellectual Property to Ireland, in an effort to make Ireland a more attractive location for Intellectual Property (IP).

The value of any goodwill attaching to the intellectual property also applies to this tax exemption. IP includes any patent, copyright, registered design trademark, design right, invention, supplementary protection certificate, domain name, or plant breeders` rights.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Collaborative R&D projects:

IDA Ireland facilitates collaborative research, in partnership with client companies, which provides companies access to knowledge-based resources, opening up opportunities to harness the benefits this shared knowledge, including, universities, Institutes of Technology and applied research centers.

EU Framework Programme:

The European Union`s Framework Programme offers Funding to create the opportunity for Europe-based businesses to collaborate with leading European researchers and research organisations.
IDA Ireland offers advice and financial support to IDA client companies, with the hope to encourage participation in this programme.