Sell before or after you move to Ireland?

How it is worked out

1. Your residence in the arrival year: 183 days or more, 280 over two years (each year over 30 days), or an election. Arriving on or before 2 July gives 183 days.
2. Resident or ordinarily resident in a year: gains anywhere in the world that year are taxable in Ireland, including gains made before you landed. Neither: only Irish land, buildings and a few other Irish assets.
3. The rate: shares, non-fund assets and rental property 31% after the €1,270 yearly exemption; EU, EEA and OECD funds like Irish funds (most UCITS ETFs) 38% in 2026 and 35% from 2027, no exemption, with a deemed sale every 8 years from purchase; funds from outside the OECD 40%.
4. Your home abroad: relief for the years you lived in it plus the last 12 months you owned it.

What people get wrong

• Selling the week before landing. If you arrive in the first half of the year you are usually resident for the whole year, so a sale in January can still be taxed in Ireland.
• Electing to be resident without checking gains. The election gives full tax credits but makes the whole year resident for gains, and it cannot be withdrawn.
• Forgetting the ETF clock. An EU-domiciled ETF bought in 2019 reaches its 8-year deemed sale in 2027, whether or not you sell.

What this calculator does not cover

Losses; foreign tax credits; income (dividends, interest, rent); the exit charge on people who left Ireland less than 5 years ago with a 5% or €500,000 shareholding (s.29A); non-distributing funds from outside the OECD (taxed as income); the remittance basis (not available to most returning Irish citizens).

Frequently asked questions

Should I sell my shares before moving back to Ireland?
It depends on whether you will be Irish resident in the tax year you sell. Example: arriving on 1 September 2027 after 6 years away, you spend 122 days in Ireland that year, so you are not resident for 2027, and a sale any time in 2027 (before or after you land) has no Irish tax. The same €20,000 gain on shares and €10,000 on a UCITS ETF sold in 2028 would cost about €9,306 in Irish tax. The country you are leaving may still tax it.

Is there split-year treatment for capital gains in Ireland?
No. Revenue’s split-year relief covers employment income only and does not affect gains. If you are resident for the year you arrive (183 days or more, or by election), a gain you made abroad earlier that same year can be taxed in Ireland.

When am I Irish tax resident in the year I move back?
If you spend 183 days or more in Ireland in the tax year, or 280 days over that year and the year before (a year of 30 days or fewer is ignored). Arriving on or before 2 July gives you at least 183 days. You can also elect to be resident in the arrival year, mainly to get full tax credits, and the election cannot be withdrawn.

Does my foreign base cost reset when I move to Ireland?
Revenue’s pages list when market value replaces cost (gifts, inheritances, assets held before 6 April 1974), and arriving in Ireland is not one of them, so the gain is measured from what you paid. One exception: the Ireland-Canada treaty lets someone taxed on Canada’s departure tax elect to reset the Irish cost.

Is my home abroad taxed when I sell it after moving back?
Main-home relief covers the years you lived there plus the last 12 months you owned it. Sold within 12 months of moving out, a home you lived in throughout is fully covered. Let out for longer, the let years after you move out are taxed (unless you move back in).

Related

• Is it worth moving home to Ireland? · Your tax in the first year back
• CGT calculator · ETF exit tax calculator
• Irish State Pension with years abroad