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When you need an Irish company that can sign a contract this week, a ready-made shelf company, a pre-registered Irish Ltd or DAC, is the fastest legal route to a 12.5% trading-tax jurisdiction. ShelfCompanies24 maintains a live inventory of clean, never-traded Irish Ltd companies registered with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), with paid-up share capital, a valid certificate of incorporation, a Revenue tax-registration record, and complete statutory registers. Most transfers complete in 24 to 72 hours.
Ireland’s 12.5% corporation tax on trading profits is one of the world’s most attractive headline corporate rates and the foundation of Ireland’s status as a global FDI hub for technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services. Combined with English-language jurisdiction, EU single-market access and a deep treaty network, an Irish shelf company is structurally well-positioned for cross-border trading and IP-holding strategies.
Our service covers the Ltd, CRO filings, registered office, RBO update.
Off-the-shelf Ltd + virtual office + Irish banking + Revenue / accountant referral bundled.
Most transfers within 24 to 72 hours. Dedicated Dublin case manager.
Sign electronically; we file with CRO and update RBO without your physical presence.
We file forms B10 (director changes), B5 (allotments), B2 (registered-office change), and update the Register of Beneficial Ownership.
An Irish off-the-shelf company is a private limited company by shares (Ltd), or occasionally a DAC (Designated Activity Company), that was incorporated by a professional service provider purely to be transferred to a future buyer. From incorporation to sale, the company has:
| Feature | Ltd (Private Limited) | DAC (Designated Activity Company) | PLC (Public Limited) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum share capital | €1 | €1 | €25,000 (allotted), €6,250 paid up |
| Members | 1+, any nationality (max 149) | 1+, any nationality (max 149) | 1+, can list publicly |
| Constitution | Single-document constitution | Constitution + memorandum/objects clause | Memorandum + articles separately |
| Best fit | ~95% of buyers, SMEs, holdings, IP | Regulated activities (e.g., insurance brokers, FinTech, charities) | Listed groups, capital-raising |
The Irish Ltd is the post-2014 default form (replacing the older “Limited” model). DACs continue to exist for regulated activities or where the company explicitly needs an objects clause. PLCs are reserved for listed entities.
Ireland’s headline 12.5% trading-CIT rate is one of the lowest among developed economies and unchanged since 2003. For shelf-company buyers planning to trade actively in Ireland, this rate is a structural advantage. Note: passive income (interest, royalties, rents) is taxed at 25%; trading income is what the 12.5% applies to.
A new Irish Ltd via CRO online filing takes 5 to 7 working days; an off-the-shelf Ltd transfers in 24 to 72 hours.
The Companies Registration Office maintains a fully public company register at cro.ie. An Irish Ltd with a CRO incorporation date in the past reads as more substantial than a fresh formation.
Every Irish ready-made Ltd carries an active CRO number, a Revenue Tax Reference Number (TRN), and where applicable a VAT registration. Beneficial owners are filed in the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) at rbo.gov.ie.
Post-Brexit, Ireland has become the EU’s largest English-speaking corporate base. Your Ltd has full EU single-market trading access, including for goods, services, capital and people.
AIB (Allied Irish Banks), Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank legacy, Revolut Bank Lithuania (Irish operations), N26, corporate banking is more constrained for non-resident-controlled Ltd companies than in some EU peers, but available with the right preparation.
Live inventory: Irish Ltd companies of various ages registered in Dublin (most), Cork, Galway, Limerick or Waterford.
Ireland keeps one, the Register of Beneficial Ownership, but it stopped being public. Every Irish Ltd files the natural persons who own or control more than 25 percent of the shares or voting rights. Following the Court of Justice judgment of 22 November 2022, SI 308 of 2023 closed general public access. The register is now open to An Garda Síochána, Revenue and other competent authorities, to designated persons carrying out customer due diligence, and to applicants who prove a legitimate interest.
Irish share transfers are effected by a stock transfer form similar to the UK J30. No notarisation. Stamp duty applies at 1% on consideration above €1,000 (with exemptions for low-value share transfers between non-residents in certain cases).
The outgoing director resigns; new director(s) are appointed via form B10. Filed electronically with the CRO.
B2 changes the registered office. Constitution amendments by special resolution (75% shareholder consent). Company-name changes via G1Q.
The Register of Beneficial Ownership at the CRO is updated within 14 days of the share transfer.
Revenue is notified of the change of officers and the start of trading. Existing TRN remains valid; corporation tax, VAT and PAYE registrations are updated as required.
| Tax | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation tax, trading income | 12.5% | One of the lowest in the EU; foundation of Ireland’s FDI strategy |
| Corporation tax, passive income | 25% | Interest, royalties, rents, investment returns |
| VAT | 23% standard, 13.5% / 9% / 0% reduced | Mandatory above €42,500 (services) / €85,000 (goods) turnover |
| Withholding tax on dividends | 25% (domestic); 0% under EU Parent-Subsidiary or treaties | Reduced to 0% in most cross-border situations |
| R&D tax credit | 30% | Among the EU’s most generous |
| Knowledge Development Box (KDB) | 10% | Reduced rate on income from qualifying patents/IP |
Note: under OECD Pillar Two rules, multinationals with global revenue exceeding €750m face an effective minimum tax of 15%, Ireland implemented a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (QDMTT) for these entities. For SMEs and most shelf-company buyers, the 12.5% trading rate continues to apply.
People compare the two as though they were different legal forms. They are not. A shelf company in Ireland is a private company limited by shares, the same Ltd under the Companies Act 2014 that a new CRO filing produces, with the same single document constitution, the same limited liability and the same filing duties. One thing separates them. The shelf Ltd was registered in advance and has been held dormant since, so it already has a CRO number, an incorporation date, a Revenue tax reference number and a filing history, while a newly formed company has none of that until the CRO processes Form A1. Everything you would choose at formation, the name, the registered office, the directors and the share structure, you still choose here. You simply change it on an entity that already exists.
This is the one request we turn down. Our Irish stock is dormant by design: never traded, never invoiced, no customers, no suppliers and no accumulated losses. A company that has genuinely traded carries the other side of that history, creditors, open tax positions, employment records and previous directors, and no amount of due diligence makes that risk vanish for a buyer who only wanted an older date on the register. What buyers usually mean by trading history is an incorporation date with some age behind it, and that we can offer, with the dormancy documented so a bank or a counterparty can verify it.
Pick a company from the current stock list and complete KYC for every incoming director and beneficial owner. We execute the stock transfer form, file the director change on form B10, change the registered office on form B2, update the Register of Beneficial Ownership and notify Revenue of the change of officers. Nothing needs notarisation and nothing needs your physical presence. Most transfers complete in 24 to 72 hours from KYC completion.
Yes, by about a week. A new Ltd filed through the CRO clears in 5 to 7 working days before Revenue registration even begins, while a shelf Ltd changes hands in 24 to 72 hours with its CRO number and its Revenue tax reference number already in place. The gap matters most when a contract, a tender or a landlord is waiting on a company number.
A pre-incorporated Irish Ltd registered with the Companies Registration Office, with no trading history, held in reserve for sale to a buyer. Same concept as the UK off-the-shelf Ltd.
24 to 72 hours from KYC completion. CRO online filings process within 1 to 3 working days.
€1. Our standard inventory carries €100-€1,000 of paid-up share capital for commercial credibility.
Shareholders may live anywhere. Directors may not. Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014 requires at least one director resident in an EEA state, and since Brexit a United Kingdom resident no longer satisfies that test. A company without an EEA resident director must instead hold a Section 137 bond for a two year term, or obtain a Section 140 certificate from the CRO once Revenue confirms a real and continuous link with economic activity in Ireland.
Off-the-shelf Ltd companies generally do not come with an active operational bank account (banks open accounts only after KYC of the new beneficial owners). We introduce you to banking partners post-transfer; AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and certain challenger banks serve corporate clients.
12.5% on trading income, 25% on passive income (interest, rents, royalties). VAT 23% standard. Dividend withholding 25% domestic but 0% under EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive and most treaties. Pillar Two minimum tax applies only to multinationals with revenue > €750m.
Yes, subject to the Section 137 bond or EEA-resident director requirement, and substance considerations under Ireland’s place-of-central-management-and-control test for tax residence.
Want today’s Irish inventory? Contact our Irish desk.
Ireland is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Ireland for your Ltd specifically? EU + 12.5% CIT, English-speaking is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Ireland specifically: 12.5% on trading income / 25% on passive; 15% Pillar Two QDTT for groups above €750m consolidated revenue (first filings June 2026); Section 137 bond required if no EEA director.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Ireland:
Yes. A name change is filed with the CRO via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
Yes. Ireland has signed comprehensive double taxation agreements with 78 countries and 75 of them are in effect, and an Irish tax resident Ltd also relies on the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive and the Interest and Royalties Directive. Entitlement is not automatic. The principal purpose test added by the OECD Multilateral Instrument applies, and the company has to satisfy Ireland’s central management and control test to be treaty resident in the first place.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Every company on the CRO register has a number printed on its certificate of incorporation, and the register itself is public and searchable at cro.ie by company name or by number. For a company you are buying from us, the CRO number, the incorporation date and the filing history are in the inventory list before you commit, and the full corporate file with the certificate is handed over at transfer.
No, and you should not engage anyone who claims otherwise. The Companies Registration Office (CRO) records the actual incorporation date, which is publicly searchable and immutable. The shelf Ltds we offer have honest incorporation dates ranging from a few months to several years old; for buyers who want a longer corporate trading history, we recommend purchase rather than fabrication, since fabricated history would expose you to fraud, tax-evasion, and money-laundering charges in any reputable jurisdiction.
Engaging us for your Irish shelf Ltd purchase covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for Irish corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.