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How to register a company in Ireland

Ireland gives a non-resident founder something rare: an English-speaking, common-law, euro-zone EU company taxed at 12.5% on trading profit, formed online for a €50 government fee with no minimum capital. The entity is the Private Company Limited by Shares (LTD), the registry is the Companies Registration Office (CRO), and you file electronically through its CORE portal by uploading a single Form A1 and a one-document constitution. One foreign person can own 100% of the shares — there is no nationality or residency limit on shareholders. What makes Ireland materially harder than the UK for a foreign founder is not ownership but governance. Every Irish LTD must have a company secretary in addition to its director (a sole director cannot also be the secretary), and at least one director must be resident in the European Economic Area (EEA). A fully non-EEA board is allowed, but only if the company lodges a €25,000 Section 137 non-resident bond (or later obtains a real-and-continuous-link certificate). On top of that, since June 2023 every director must supply an Irish PPS number on the A1 — or, if they have never had one, first obtain an Identified Person Number (IPN) through the CRO's Verification of Identity (VIF) process before they can file. Plan for these three things — EEA director or bond, a secretary, and the PPS/VIF step — and the rest of the incorporation is straightforward and fully remote.

Ireland overview How we research
Country
Ireland
Topic
How to register
Reviewed
June 2026

By the Lanzamo Editorial Team · Reviewed June 2026 · How we research

  1. 1

    Check (and optionally reserve) your company name

    Search the CRO register for clashes and avoid names that are 'identical or too similar' to an existing company or that use restricted words (Bank, Insurance, University, etc.). You can reserve a chosen name through CORE for €25, which holds it for 28 days — useful if your bond or PPS step will delay the actual A1 filing. The reservation fee is not extra if you incorporate within the window.

  2. 2

    Sort out the EEA-director rule before anything else

    At least one director must be resident in the EEA. If your board is entirely non-EEA, you must either lodge a Section 137 bond (€25,000 cover, premium typically €1,500–€2,500 for the mandatory two-year term) at the point of incorporation, or appoint an EEA-resident director to avoid it. The real-and-continuous-link certificate is a third route but is only available after the company is trading, so most non-resident founders start with the bond or an EEA director.

  3. 3

    Get a director PPS number or an IPN via the VIF process

    Since 11 June 2023 every director must enter a PPS number on CRO filings. A non-resident founder who has never lived in Ireland will not have one, so before filing the A1 they must obtain an Identified Person Number (IPN) by submitting a Verification of Identity Form (VIF) — a notarised/apostilled identity declaration — to the CRO. This is the single biggest paperwork bottleneck for a brand-new foreign director, so start it early.

  4. 4

    Appoint a director and a separate company secretary

    An LTD needs at least one director and one company secretary; if you are the sole director you must appoint a different person or a corporate secretary as secretary. The secretary can be resident anywhere in the world (there is no EEA rule for the secretary), so non-residents commonly use a professional corporate secretarial service to satisfy this — it is a recurring cost the UK does not impose.

  5. 5

    Secure an Irish registered office and EEA business address

    The company must have a registered office that is a real, physical address in the Republic of Ireland (no PO box) where statutory mail and inspections are handled, plus a separate EEA business correspondence address. Non-residents buy both from a formation agent or registered-office provider, typically €150–€400/year combined — a virtual office with a genuine physical premises is accepted.

  6. 6

    Set the shares, capital and constitution

    There is no minimum paid-in capital: a single €1 ordinary share, fully foreign-owned, is the standard setup, and you do not wire that cash before incorporating. An LTD uses a single-document constitution (it replaced the old memorandum and articles), which most founders adopt in standard model form. You list the subscriber(s), the share allocation and the company's registered details on the A1.

  7. 7

    File Form A1 and the constitution through CORE and pay €50

    Submit the completed Form A1 (company name, registered office, director and secretary details with PPS/IPN and their consents, subscribers and shares) together with the PDF constitution through the CRO's CORE online portal. The standard online incorporation fee is €50. The A1 also carries each officer's statutory declaration of compliance with the Companies Act 2014.

  8. 8

    Receive your Certificate of Incorporation and CRO number

    Once the CRO processes the submission it issues a Certificate of Incorporation with your unique company number, and the company legally exists from that date. Online A1 processing is not instant — the CRO's ordinary online scheme typically runs around two to four weeks depending on its current queue, slower than the UK's same-day turnaround.

Realistic timeline: For a non-resident the slow parts come before and after the A1, not the filing itself. If you have no PPS number, the VIF/IPN identity step can take a couple of weeks to clear, and arranging a Section 137 bond or an EEA director adds lead time too. The A1 itself, once submitted to CORE, is typically processed in roughly two to four weeks under the ordinary online scheme — noticeably slower than the UK's same-day service. Add Revenue tax registration and EMI bank KYC, and a realistic end-to-end timeline from a standing start is about 4–8 weeks to be fully incorporated, tax-registered and bankable.

Right after you incorporate

File the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) within 5 months

Every Irish company must file its beneficial owners — generally anyone holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights — with the central Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) within five months of incorporation. Each beneficial owner needs a PPS number or, if they have none, a VIF/IPN. As a 100% foreign owner you file yourself as the sole beneficial owner; changes must be updated within 14 days.

Register for tax with Revenue (Corporation Tax, and often a TRN)

Register the company for Corporation Tax with Revenue, normally through ROS (Revenue Online Service) using a Form TR2 / TR2 (FT) for foreign-owned companies. An Irish-incorporated company is generally Irish tax-resident and files an annual CT1 return. Register before, or as soon as, the company starts to trade so your accounting period and tax dates are set correctly.

Register for VAT only if you must — watch the non-established rule

Irish-established traders register for VAT above €85,000 (goods) or €42,500 (services) of turnover, but a non-established taxable person with no fixed Irish establishment has effectively a zero threshold and must register from the first taxable Irish supply. If you only sell B2B services to overseas customers you may not need to register at all; if you hold stock in Ireland or sell to Irish consumers, register at the outset.

Open a business bank or EMI account

Irish high-street banks (AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB) rarely onboard a fully non-resident company without local substance, so the practical remote route is a fintech/EMI such as Wise or Revolut Business, which give euro IBANs against your CRO registration. Open this early — you will need it to receive revenue, pay your secretary and settle Revenue liabilities.

Set up accounting and the annual return cycle

Engage an Irish accountant to keep statutory records, prepare financial statements, file the annual return (Form B1) on CORE with accounts annexed, and submit the CT1 to Revenue. Note the timing quirk: the first B1 is due six months after incorporation and carries no accounts, but every subsequent B1 must have financial statements attached. Missing a B1 deadline triggers late-filing penalties and the loss of audit exemption.

Frequently asked questions

Can a non-resident own 100% of an Irish company and be its director?

Yes. There is no nationality or residency restriction on shareholders, and a non-resident can be a director. The catch is governance: at least one director must be EEA-resident, so a wholly non-EEA board must lodge a €25,000 Section 137 bond (or appoint an EEA director). You also need a separate company secretary, an Irish registered office and a PPS number or IPN for each director.

Do I need to travel to Ireland to incorporate?

No — the A1 and constitution are filed online through CORE and the company can be formed entirely from abroad, usually via an agent. You do not need to set foot in Ireland to incorporate. The one thing a visit can ease is opening a traditional high-street bank account, which is why most non-residents use a fintech/EMI instead.

What is the Section 137 bond and will I have to buy one?

Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014 requires a €25,000 bond if a company has no EEA-resident director, to cover potential fines and unfiled penalties. You buy it from an insurer/agent for a premium of roughly €1,500–€2,500 for a two-year term, then renew it. You can avoid it by appointing an EEA-resident director, or later by obtaining a real-and-continuous-link (Section 140) certificate once the company genuinely operates in Ireland.

Why does my company need a company secretary as well as a director?

Irish company law requires every LTD to have a company secretary, and a sole director cannot also be the secretary. The secretary is responsible for ensuring statutory filings are made. Unlike the director, the secretary has no EEA-residency requirement, so non-residents typically appoint a professional corporate secretary — a recurring cost that the UK, which abolished the mandatory company secretary for private companies, does not impose.

Sources

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