It's a flat 33% on the chargeable gain — the difference between what you paid (plus purchase costs and improvement spending) and what you sold for (minus selling costs). Everyone also gets a small annual exempt amount (€1,270), and unused amounts can't be carried forward. The same capital gains tax rate in Ireland applies whether the gain comes from property, shares or a business sale, though different reliefs can reduce the effective rate.

You can't make it disappear, but you can legitimately shrink it: use the €1,270 annual exemption each year, transfer assets between spouses to spread or defer gains, time disposals across tax years, offset capital losses, and — for business owners — check Entrepreneur Relief (a 10% rate on qualifying gains up to a lifetime limit) and retirement relief if you're 55 or over. If you're researching how to avoid capital gains tax in Ireland, the line is simple: using reliefs is legal; hiding gains is evasion.

Capital gains tax on property in Ireland is charged at 33% on the gain: sale price minus the purchase price, buying and selling costs (solicitor, auctioneer, stamp duty) and spending on improvements. If the property was your sole or main residence for the whole time you owned it, principal private residence relief generally exempts the gain, with the garden covered up to one acre. Second homes, rentals and investment property get no such relief, which is where most surprise bills come from.

The same 33% rate and €1,270 annual exemption apply. You can deduct purchase costs (broker fees, stamp duty) and disposal costs, and capital losses can offset gains in the same or later years. The capital gains tax on shares in Ireland is self-assessed, so you calculate and report it yourself. Watch out for two traps: some pooled funds and ETFs are taxed at 41% under exit-tax rules instead of CGT, and shares from employee schemes can trigger income tax when you exercise them.

No. You don't pay capital gains tax in Ireland on inheritance when you receive it — the potential charge at that point is inheritance tax (CAT) at 33% above your threshold. CGT enters later: if you sell the inherited asset, you're taxed on any increase in value from its market value at the valuation date. That's why a beneficiary who sells soon after inheriting often has little or no CGT to pay.

Only some assets stay in the net. Generally, non-residents pay Irish capital gains tax on Irish land, buildings, and unquoted shares whose value comes mainly from those assets — worldwide gains fall outside the scope once you're non-resident, subject to anti-avoidance rules for short stints abroad. When you sell Irish property, the buyer must withhold 15% of the price unless Revenue issues a clearance. The first step in how to avoid capital gains tax in Ireland as a non-resident is planning before you change residency, because some reliefs carry residency conditions.

Here's how to pay capital gains tax in Ireland, step by step: work out the chargeable gain; pay the tax to Revenue through ROS — for most disposals (those made January to November) payment is due by 15 December, with December disposals due by 31 January; then file the capital gains tax form in Ireland, known as Form CG1, by 31 October after the end of the tax year. Keep records of the purchase, the costs and the sale for at least six years in case Revenue queries the calculation.

Inheritance tax in Ireland in 2026 works like this: the rate is a flat 33% on everything above your tax-free threshold, which depends on your relationship to the person who died. From 2026, the Group A threshold (children, including adopted and stepchildren) is €420,000; Group B (for example brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews) sits at €50,000; and Group C (everyone else, including unmarried partners and friends) at €20,000. Surviving spouses and civil partners are fully exempt. The inheritance tax rate in Ireland itself hasn't changed — it's the thresholds that move with each Budget.

A child can inherit up to €420,000 (the 2026 Group A threshold) free of inheritance tax from each parent — and the threshold applies per parent, so two parents can pass on twice that tax-free. Everything above is taxed at 33%. Under the phased changes announced in Budget 2026, the inheritance tax in Ireland from parent to child rises to €460,000 in 2027 and €500,000 in 2028. Remember that all prior gifts and inheritances from the same parent since December 1991 count against the threshold.

The main levers for how to avoid inheritance tax in Ireland are: use the €3,000 annual small gift exemption (per donor, per recipient, every year — it doesn't touch your threshold); rely on fully exempt transfers between spouses; give earlier, because any gift or inheritance uses up the tax-free threshold before the final estate does; take out a section 60 life policy so the tax bill is covered without forcing a sale; and check business relief or agricultural relief, which can cut the taxable value of qualifying assets by 90%. What you can't do is disguise gifts or hide assets — that's evasion.

Start with the maths: the tax is 33% of the property's market value at the valuation date, above your threshold, whether or not you ever sell it. The most common route for how to avoid inheritance tax on property in Ireland is the dwelling house exemption — if you inherit a house that was the deceased's sole residence, you own no other house and you meet the occupancy conditions, it can pass tax-free at any value. Other options include a section 60 life policy sized to the likely bill so the house never has to be sold, or a parent gifting the property during their lifetime so future growth falls outside their estate.

As early as possible — ideally years, not months, before any expected transfer. Annual gift exemptions only work if you use them every year; life insurance to cover the tax is far cheaper to arrange when you're young and healthy; and family business or farm succession needs lead time to qualify for reliefs and restructure ownership. Effective inheritance tax planning in Ireland is a series of small, early decisions rather than one big fix.

The direction was largely set in Budget 2026: the parent-to-child threshold is due to rise to €460,000 in 2027 and €500,000 in 2028. Budget 2027 is expected to keep that path, though thresholds, rates and reliefs are reviewed every October. If you're timing a gift or inheritance around a threshold, check the confirmed figures for inheritance tax in Ireland in Budget 2027 before the paperwork is done — the difference between tax years can be worth thousands.

It varies hugely with complexity. A one-off session to unpick a single question — say, the tax on selling shares or a property — costs far less than designing a full plan for a business exit, a move abroad or passing on a family company, which involves structuring, reliefs and multiple deadlines. Most advisers charge by the hour or a fixed fee per piece of work. When weighing how much is tax planning in Ireland against the cost of doing nothing, remember the default bills — 33% on gains and on inheritances above thresholds — are usually far bigger than the advice fee.

Yes. Tax planning means arranging your affairs to use the reliefs, exemptions and rates the law deliberately provides — that's legal and expected. What's illegal is tax evasion: concealing income, gains or assets. The grey zone is aggressive schemes that follow the letter but not the spirit of the law, which Revenue can challenge with penalties and interest. So while the answer to "is tax planning legal" is clearly yes, it's worth getting professional sign-off on anything that feels too clever.