Left the UK, in Dublin, might not move?

[Eurocash]

So, under the advice of a tax specialist from a respected firm, I have left the UK within 16 days of the new tax year starting.

A couple of users actually suggested this to me in a previous thread so, thank you to those users too.

I am now in Ireland, where we know the following:

- Corporation tax: 12.5%
- Personal tax: well, it’s a lot, let’s not even go there

My original plan was to get a visa to move to Malta and then benefit from their 5% effective rate of corporation tax and 15% flat rate personal tax.

But now that I’m here in Ireland, I quite like it, and I’m not in a hurry to bounce over to Malta as quickly as I can.

In the back of my mind I’m thinking, you could regret this, due to the personal tax situation. But here’s my rationale, please let me know if you think this is sensible:


12.5% corporation tax is fine, I’m coming from 25%, and I think 12.5% is a fair amount. I don’t have any real objection to that.

The personal tax issue:

- I have brought a 6 figure sum with me into Ireland
- I could theoretically live off of this money and defer my requirements for personal income for at least a year or longer
- I do need some of that money for working capital for my business

I certainly don’t want to waste the money on just living expenses, but at the end of the day, the money I live on has to come from somewhere

I wonder if there would it would be possible to build up the capital of a newly formed Irish company then, hopefully, when it has a significant balance sheet in a couple of years time I could simply move to another country if I wanted to draw large sums of cash for example to buy a home.

Then it would be places like Monaco in play at 0% rather than 15% in Malta

Overall: am I putting myself in a bad position staying in Ireland for a year?

Would be so keen to hear peoples thoughts

I work fully online providing services to businesses who are based in various locations

 

[JustAnotherNomad]

You could probably give a loan to your company (which the company will have to repay with interest later) and otherwise live off savings, unless Irelands mandates that you pay yourself a salary?
Check the Irish exit tax rules.

 

[Eurocash]

You could probably give a loan to your company (which the company will have to repay with interest later) and otherwise live off savings, unless Irelands mandates that you pay yourself a salary?
Check the Irish exit tax rules.

Thanks for the response. Yes, using the capital I bring here is obviously not taxable, and anything I put into a company as a loan can theoretically be removed again tax free if required as long as there aren't other reasons why this would not be appropriate i.e. preference issues if company was going bust.

What I'm trying to get to though is, is there an amount of money or a well known method Irish citizens use to legally reduce their tax? On the face of it, it seems like it's similar to the UK i.e. small salary, dividends to top this up. I don't consider pension contributions in this context as I am talking about money I would be drawing to have immediately available

 

[Cloudbanck]

So, under the advice of a tax specialist from a respected firm, I have left the UK within 16 days of the new tax year starting.

A couple of users actually suggested this to me in a previous thread so, thank you to those users too.

I am now in Ireland, where we know the following:

- Corporation tax: 12.5%
- Personal tax: well, it’s a lot, let’s not even go there

My original plan was to get a visa to move to Malta and then benefit from their 5% effective rate of corporation tax and 15% flat rate personal tax.

But now that I’m here in Ireland, I quite like it, and I’m not in a hurry to bounce over to Malta as quickly as I can.

In the back of my mind I’m thinking, you could regret this, due to the personal tax situation. But here’s my rationale, please let me know if you think this is sensible:


12.5% corporation tax is fine, I’m coming from 25%, and I think 12.5% is a fair amount. I don’t have any real objection to that.

The personal tax issue:

- I have brought a 6 figure sum with me into Ireland
- I could theoretically live off of this money and defer my requirements for personal income for at least a year or longer
- I do need some of that money for working capital for my business

I certainly don’t want to waste the money on just living expenses, but at the end of the day, the money I live on has to come from somewhere

I wonder if there would it would be possible to build up the capital of a newly formed Irish company then, hopefully, when it has a significant balance sheet in a couple of years time I could simply move to another country if I wanted to draw large sums of cash for example to buy a home.

Then it would be places like Monaco in play at 0% rather than 15% in Malta

Overall: am I putting myself in a bad position staying in Ireland for a year?

No, Ireland is very straightforward to leave, and as long as you dont transfer over funds from your business to yourself while being a tax resident in Ireland, taxes will be very reasonable. Note that if you are not an Irish citizen, you are non-domicile in Ireland, meaning you pay zero tax to Ireland on assets abroad like houses or individual stocks (but weirdly not ETFs and funds).
If you stay 3 years though, you become ordinarily tax resident, meaning you have some tax liabilities to Ireland for three years after you leave, so best to avoid that.
But basically you can spend funds you had personally before you moved to Ireland in Ireland, no problem, just keep them separate from any money you make while being a tax resident in Ireland.

 

[jayM]

But basically you can spend funds you had personally before you moved to Ireland in Ireland, no problem, just keep them separate from any money you make while being a tax resident in Ireland.

Same as for non-dom in the UK right ?

 

[Cloudbanck]

Same as for non-dom in the UK right ?

UK's modified non-dom (called FIG regime) is only 4 years, the Irish one is for life. But during those 4 years in the UK, one can actually remit funds earned abroad to the UK without tax. That's not possible in Ireland - there you can only remit funds earned before you moved to Ireland tax free.