Tax Treaties

Ireland has signed comprehensive double taxation agreements with 65 countries, of which 59 are in effect. The agreements cover direct taxes, which in the case of Ireland are income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax.

Commentary on typical provisions of Irish tax treaties (PDF, 64KB)

The following is a summary of the work underway to negotiate new agreements and to update old agreements:

New agreements with Georgia, signed on 20 November 2008, Moldova, signed on 28 May 2009, Serbia signed on 23 September 2009, Singapore signed on 28 October 2010, Turkey signed on 24 October 2008 and the United Arab Emirates signed 1 July 2010 came into force on 6 May 2010, 22 April 2010, 16 June 2010, 8 April 2011, 18 August 2010 and 21 July 2011 respectively. These treaties are effective from 1 January 2011. New agreements with Albania signed 16 October 2009, Hong Kong signed on 22 June 2010, Montenegro signed on 7 October 2010 came into force on 12 July 2011, 10 February 2011 and 1 December 2011 respectively and are effective from 1 January 2012. New agreements with Armenia, Panama and Saudi Arabia were signed on 14 July 2011, 28 November 2011 and on 19 October 2011 respectively.
A new agreement which will replace the existing agreement with Germany was signed on 30 March 2011. The legal procedures to bring this agreement into force are now being followed.
Legal procedures to bring the new agreement with Bosnia & Herzegovina signed on 3 November 2009 into force were completed by Ireland in April 2010. Legal procedures to bring the new agreements with Kuwait signed 23 November 2010 and Morocco signed on 22 June 2010 were completed by Ireland in February 2011. When legal procedures are also completed by these countries, the agreements will come into effect in line with the "Entry into Force " provisions of those agreements.
A Protocol to the existing ageement with Germany signed 25 May 2010, came into force on 3 June 2011 and is effective from 1 January 2011.
Legal procedures to bring the protocols to the existing agreements with Austria signed on 16 December 2009, Malaysia signed 16 December 2009 and South Africa signed 17 March 2010 into force were completed by Ireland in February 2011. When legal procedures are also completed by these counties, the protocols will come ino effect in line with "Entry into Force" provisions of those protocols.
Negotiations for new agreements with Egypt, Thailand, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have been concluded and are expected to be signed shortly. Negotiations on Protocols to the existing agreements with Belgium and Switzerland have also been concluded and are expected to be signed shortly.
Negotiations for new agreements with the following countries are at various stages: Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Tunisia.
Negotiations are at various stages for the revision of existing agreements with Cyprus, France, Italy, Korea and Pakistan.
It is also planned to initiate negotiations for new agreements with other countries in the course of 2012.

Where a double taxation agreement does not exist with a particular country there are provisions in the Irish Taxes Consolidation Acts (TCA) 1997 which allow unilateral relief against double taxation in respect of certain types of income. The principal provisions granting unilateral relief are as follows:

dividends from foreign subsidiaries:
- credit for withholding tax on dividend payments and for foreign tax paid on the underlying profits out of which the dividends were paid (paragraph 9A and B of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
- pooling and carry-forward of excess foreign tax credits (paragraph 9E of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
- credit for foreign tax on dividends paid by a foreign company that is a member of a group that paid tax on a consolidated basis (paragraph 9G of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
foreign branch profits:
- credit for foreign tax paid by an Irish company on profits of a foreign branch (paragraph 9DA of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
- pooling of excess foreign branch tax credits (paragraph 9FA of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
foreign interest treated as trading income of the company that receives it:
- credit for foreign tax (paragraph 9D of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
- pooling of excess foreign tax credits in respect of interest received from associated companies in countries with which Ireland has a double taxation agreement (paragraph 9F of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
capital gains on foreign assets:
- credit for foreign tax paid on capital gains in countries with which Ireland has a double taxation agreement but where the tax treaty with that country does not cover capital gains tax – Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Pakistan and Zambia (paragraph 9FB of Schedule 24 TCA 1997)
- exemption from tax of capital gains from disposal of shares in foreign trading subsidiary companies resident in an EU or Irish tax agreement country (section 626B TCA 1997)

There are also reliefs granted under the EU "Parent-Subsidiaries Directive" (90/435/EEC) (section 831 TCA 1997), the EU "Interest and Royalties Directive" (2003/49/EC)(section 267G-L TCA 1997), the "EU Mergers Directive" (90/434/EEC) (sections 630-638 TCA 1997) and the EU Arbitration Convention (European Communities Mutual Assistance in the Field of Direct Taxation Regulations 1978) (S.I. 334 of 1978).

The list of Irish double taxation agreements is as follows: (Click on a specific country link to view or download the text of the agreement).

Disclaimer: In the event of any discrepancy between the text obtained from this website and the text in the relevant Statutory Instrument (SI), the text in the SI is the authorative one. Ireland's tax treaties and their SI numbers

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