Retiring in Ireland
Ireland: the tax picture for FIRE
Ireland taxes income at 20% up to the €44,000 standard-rate cut-off (single filers) and 40% above it. There's no personal allowance: Ireland uses tax credits (~€4,000 single) that reduce the bill after gross tax — our model doesn't yet subtract them, so it over-states income tax by roughly €4,000. USC applies on top, as does PRSI for working-age earners; neither is modelled. Gains on directly held assets face a flat 33% CGT above a €1,270 annual exemption; Irish and EU funds and ETFs instead face a 38% exit tax with no exemption and an eight-year deemed disposal, which isn't modelled — fund-heavy portfolios will look under-taxed here.
At death Ireland taxes the recipient rather than the estate: Capital Acquisitions Tax takes a flat 33% above lifetime group thresholds — €400,000 for a child, €40,000 for siblings, nieces, nephews and grandchildren, €20,000 for anyone else — with transfers to a spouse or civil partner wholly exempt. Cost of living is modelled as a relative factor of 1.05 — a low-confidence, illustrative figure for cross-country comparison. Our Irish income figures are draft and medium-confidence, not filing-grade.
Income tax (2026)medium confidence
| Band | Rate |
|---|---|
| €0 – €44,000 | 20% |
| above €44,000 | 40% |
What this model doesn’t capture (10)
- tax credits MODELLED conditionally (B1b): personal €2,000 unconditional; Employee/PAYE €2,000 only against qualifying PAYE-source income (Irish/untagged pensions, EU state pensions), capped at 20% of it. Conservative edges: UK social-security pensions get NO employee credit (Revenue's list names EU member states — the TCA social-security protocol MAY extend it; over-tax ≤€2,000, seek advice) and the Earned Income Credit for trading income is not modelled
- USC (Universal Social Charge, ~0.5%-8% banded, ~3%-4.5% surcharge on self-employed >€100k) applies on top and is NOT modelled
- PRSI (~4.1% Class A) applies on top for working-age earners and is NOT modelled (generally does not apply to most pension/drawdown income and ceases at age 66)
- standard-rate cut-off band VARIES by family status (single €44,000; married/civil one-earner ~€53,000; two-earner up to ~€88,000) — single-filer scale only
- age exemption for 65+: income fully exempt below €18,000 single / €36,000 married — NOT modelled
- 25% pension tax-free lump sum (cap €200k tax-free / €500k @20% band) — NOT modelled
- remittance basis for non-Irish-domiciled residents (foreign income/gains taxed only when remitted) — NOT modelled
- DIRT (33% on deposit interest) and 33% flat CGT are separate schedules — NOT modelled
- bands not indexed automatically — figures are 2026 and must be re-verified annually
- selfEmployment: no regime module — self-employed social contributions / business-income surcharges for this jurisdiction are not modelled
Capital gainshigh confidence
Capital gains are taxed at a flat 33% above an annual exemption of €1,270.
33% flat CGT; €1,270 annual exemption (directly-held assets only). Irish/EU funds & ETFs instead face 38% exit tax (cut from 41% in Budget 2026) with NO exemption plus 8-year deemed disposal — not modelled, so fund-heavy portfolios are under-taxed here.
Inheritance & estate taxhigh confidence
Tax is charged on each recipient, scaled by their relationship to the deceased.
Recipient-side CAT: flat 33% on the taxable value above the recipient's lifetime-cumulative group threshold. Spouse/civil-partner transfers wholly exempt (no threshold) — modelled via spouseExempt + a €1bn synthetic allowance with a 0% band (sentinel, not a legal cap). Group A (child) €400,000; Group B (sibling/niece/nephew/grandchild/lineal ancestor) €40,000; Group C (all others) €20,000 — current since 2 Oct 2024. allowanceMinor encodes the group threshold; the 33% band applies to the excess.
When should you claim your Ireland state pension?medium confidence
Ireland State Pension (Contributory)
Normal pension age 66. Deferring adds about 5% for each year you wait, up to age 70. You can't claim before the normal age.
Flexible deferral to age 70 introduced January 2024; the uplift is approximate. Non-contributory (means-tested) pension is a different, unmodelled scheme.
The best age to claim isn’t just about these factors — it depends on your life expectancy, your other income, and which country you’re tax-resident in when the money lands. Deferring into a lower-tax country can flip the answer entirely. Optimise your claim age →
Cost of living
105%
of a UK baseline (100%) — a rough, illustrative comparison, not a forecast.
UK private pension
Under the UK treaty, a UK-sourced private pension paid to a resident here is generally taxed only where you live (not by the UK).
Common questions
How are capital gains taxed in Ireland?
Directly held assets are taxed at a flat 33% above a small annual exemption of €1,270. Irish and EU funds and ETFs are treated very differently: they face a 38% exit tax (cut from 41% in Budget 2026) with no annual exemption, plus a deemed disposal every eight years. Our model applies only the 33% regime, so fund-heavy portfolios are under-taxed in these projections.
Is there inheritance tax in Ireland?
Yes — Capital Acquisitions Tax is charged on the recipient, not the estate, at a flat 33% on value above a lifetime-cumulative group threshold. The thresholds are €400,000 for a child, €40,000 for siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and lineal ancestors, and €20,000 for everyone else (current since 2 October 2024). Transfers to a spouse or civil partner are wholly exempt. This is the highest-confidence part of our Irish data.
How is Ireland's cost of living modelled?
Ember applies a relative cost-of-living factor of 1.05 for Ireland, used to make cross-country FIRE comparisons directionally useful. That figure is low-confidence and illustrative — it isn't a pricing of your specific lifestyle or location.
What does Ireland do to your FIRE date?
The free calculator compares your number across every covered country; the full planner models your actual accounts, pensions, residency moves and these exact tax rules — with the maths behind every figure shown.