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This section identifies the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome to incorporate and register a new firm in Ireland.
The country data appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2009.
The table below provides a summary of the procedures and the associated completion time and cost for setting up a standardized company. The table is followed by additional country-specific information on business registration requirements.
The founder swears before a Commissioner for Oaths
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
EUR 10
Name of Agency:
Comment:
A company founder (director, secretary, or solicitor) engaged in the company’s formation must attest (on the statutory incorporation form) that the company has complied with the relevant provisions of the Irish Companies Acts The founder swears before a Commissioner for Oaths or a Practising Solicitor. Moreover, the founder must declare that the company will carry on an activity in the state when the company has been incorporated.
Procedure 2.
File necessary materials with the Companies Registration Office (CRO)
Time to complete:
10 days
Cost to complete:
€50 with pre-approved memorandum and articles, € 100 for standard registration
Name of Agency:
Comment:
A founder may register a company at the Companies Registration Office (CRO) by three methods: 1. A CRO disk system, in which the papers for incorporation are lodged in print and electronic form. Under this scheme, the memorandum and articles of association must be submitted in CRO- preapproved format. After the documents are filed, the CRO incorporates the company within 5 working days. 2. A “Fe Phrainn” system, in which (as detailed in the first method) the incorporation documents are submitted to the CRO in a preapproved format. Under this method, however, documents are submitted in print form only, and the CRO incorporates the company within 10 working days. 3. An alternate system in which the incorporation documents are submitted to the CRO in print form, but the memorandum and articles of association are not in a preapproved format. In this instance, the CRO incorporates the company in 2–4 weeks.
To access the first two systems, to the company founder must apply to the CRO for an access number and have the memorandum and articles of association approved in advance. Usually only professional agencies use the expedited systems.
Necessary documents for limited companies: - Memorandum and articles of association. - List of directors, secretary, and subscribers. - Statement of nominal (authorized) and issued share capital and consideration paid. - Notice of registered office. - Statement of the main business activities and the address where they will carried out, contained in a statutory notice sent to the CRO.
Forms can be downloaded from the CRO Web site. For all methods, a CRO Form A1 must be submitted with details of the company name, the first election of directors and secretary, and the subscribers to the memorandum and articles of association; the authorized and issued share capital; and the registered office and the details of the location in the state where the central administration and the main company activities are proposed to be undertaken. The memorandum and articles of association, signed by the subscriber shareholders, will also be submitted to the CRO. As of April 2006, professional incorporators do not have to reregister the preapproved memorandum and articles of incorporation. The Company Law Enforcement Act 2001 had already made provisions for the registration of a pro forma or model memorandum and articles of association. Pursuant to the new provisions, these documents, once registered, may be referenced and need not be filed with each new incorporation.
A registration fee of EUR 100 is charged for each model memorandum and articles of association registered with the Office. However, the use of the model company incorporation documents, using the CRO disk system, will result in a reduced incorporation fee of EUR 50. The company registration fee for procedures other than the new ones is EUR 100.
Procedure 3.
Get a company seal
Time to complete:
1 day (few hours)
Cost to complete:
EUR 20
Name of Agency:
Comment:
In addition to getting a company seal, the company must keep the statutory registers for the directors and shareholders.
Procedure 4.
Register for corporation tax, social insurance (PAYE/PRSI) and VAT with the Revenue Commissioners
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:
To register for corporation and VAT taxes and for social insurance (PAYE/PRSI) with the Revenue Commissioners, the company must file Form TR2. The tax identification number is needed only when the company must pay year-end taxes. Upon entering form data into the Commissioners database, the company is immediately registered for PAYE/PRSI. However, VAT registration requires an additional 5–10 working days.
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