Tax Unwrapped

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08/06/2026

If your company holds investment property or investment assets, the 20% close company surcharge can create a major tax drag.

For Irish trading companies, this often becomes a problem when profits are retained and reinvested into property or stocks.

You do not want to extract cash personally and lose up to 50% in tax.

You also do not want investment assets exposed to trading business risk.

And you do not want the company’s investment income pushed towards a 40% effective tax rate.

For larger corporate groups, an EU special investment company may offer a better structure.

But this is complex planning. The company must be properly managed abroad. Anti-avoidance rules must be addressed. Offshore income rules must be handled carefully.

This is generally suited to self-financed companies or groups with meaningful investment income, often rental yield of around €200,000+ per year.

If your company is building wealth through property or investments, the structure matters.

Visit taxunwrapped.ie.

And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

04/06/2026

Many construction employers are paying tax-free subsistence because that's how the industry has operated for years.

Unfortunately, Revenue often takes a very different view.

The biggest issue is site-based workers.

If someone is recruited to work at a particular site, that location can become their normal place of work. Once that happens, tax-free subsistence may no longer be available.

Other common problem areas include:

• Country money
• Daily transport to the same site
• Labour supply businesses
• Paying hotel costs directly while also paying overnight allowances

Where Revenue finds problems, assessments can include PAYE, USC, employee PRSI, employer PRSI, interest and penalties.

And reviews often cover multiple years.

Construction companies should not assume that common industry practice equals tax compliance.

If you're paying tax-free travel or subsistence allowances, now is the time to review the arrangement properly.

Tax Unwrapped works with construction companies across Ireland to review subsistence structures and identify tax exposure before Revenue does.

Visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie

And don't forget, we advise and implement.

02/06/2026

Most business owners know they can employ family members.

Far fewer realise they can legally employ their own children.

The H.Y.K. Strategy allows business owners to pay children for genuine work carried out in the business.

The wages become a deductible business expense while the child may be able to earn within their own tax-free thresholds.

However, this is an area where documentation matters.

You need:
• Payroll
• PPS number
• Timesheets
• Genuine work performed
• Reasonable rates of pay
• Payment into the child's own account

The rules also vary depending on the child's age and whether school is in session.

Done properly, this can be an excellent family tax planning strategy.

Visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie

And don't forget, we advise and implement.

28/05/2026

Most people assume Ireland’s Capital Gains Tax rate is always 33%.

That is not necessarily true.

There is a relief called Angel Investor Relief which can reduce the rate to 16% for qualifying investments in innovative Irish startups.

The relief was designed to encourage private investment into early-stage Irish companies.

Broadly speaking, the investor must subscribe for newly issued shares directly from the company and hold them for at least three years.

The company itself must satisfy strict innovation conditions and obtain Revenue certification.

There are also limits on how much of the gain qualifies for the reduced rate.

For founders, separate Entrepreneur Relief rules may reduce the rate further again.

Most people involved in business or investing have never heard of this relief, despite the scale of the potential tax saving.

26/05/2026

Most developers focus on acquisition price, planning risk and construction costs.

But many completely miss the tax value sitting above the ground-floor shop.

Where an older commercial building is refurbished and the upper floors are converted into apartments, the refurbishment spend can qualify for capital allowances.

Those allowances can shelter rental income across a wider portfolio.

The relief can be worth up to €300,000 per building.

And the rules are now significantly more favourable for developers.

The write-off is accelerated: 50% in year one and 50% in year two.

Many of the older restrictions affecting SPVs and connected party structures have also been removed.

For experienced property operators, these projects are not just about development margin.

They can also create substantial rental tax shelter.

Visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie

And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

22/05/2026

A widow inherited shares in a €20 million Irish technology company and faced a potential €2 million Revenue liability.

Her advisers hired a highly experienced accountant as an expert witness.

Under cross-examination, the evidence collapsed.

The accountant admitted:
• He had not reviewed the company books
• He had no supporting financial data
• He could not justify the valuation properly
• His calculations had to be revised during the hearing

The Appeal Commissioner ultimately rejected the evidence.

Modern Revenue disputes are forensic.

Would you trust an expert who had never reviewed the books?

Case Ref: 44TACD2026

taxunwrapped.ie

20/05/2026

Some people are now spending €3,000 to €5,000 a year on Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro.

But one important issue keeps getting missed:
where the medication is bought from can affect whether medical expense tax relief may be available in Ireland.

There is a major difference between:

getting these drugs through a reputable pharmacy or medical provider,
and
buying them online from unknown or unofficial sources.

That distinction matters for two reasons.

First, proper prescriptions and pharmacy records can be critical if you ever want to claim Irish medical expense relief.

And second, people do not always know what they are actually injecting when the source is unclear.

A lot of buyers focus on price first.
But the cheaper option can create both a health risk and a tax problem.

The prescription matters.
The pharmacy matters.
And the paperwork matters too.

Don’t get caught out by poor planning.

For a consultation on Irish medical expense relief rules, visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie.

And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

18/05/2026

There’s a Louis le Brocquy painting coming up for auction in Dublin at Whytes on Molesworth Street.

“Travelling People”, painted in 1945, carries a guide price of €150,000.

Most attention will understandably focus on the artwork itself.
Le Brocquy is one of Ireland’s most important painters, with works held in institutions including the National Gallery of Ireland, the Tate, and the Guggenheim.

But from an inheritance tax planning perspective, something else stands out.

Irish tax law provides a valuable exemption for certain works of artistic and cultural importance. Where the conditions are met, qualifying artwork can pass to the next generation free from inheritance tax.

Importantly, the value of the artwork also does not reduce the child’s lifetime tax-free threshold.

At today’s valuation, that represents a potential inheritance tax saving of approximately €50,000.

And where artwork appreciates significantly over time, the future tax saving may become substantially larger.

This is one reason why sophisticated families often look beyond traditional investments when considering long-term wealth preservation and inheritance planning.

These exemptions are highly technical and should always be reviewed carefully before acquisition or transfer.

We advise wealthy individuals and families on Irish inheritance tax planning, structuring and implementation.

Visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie

And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

15/05/2026

Most families assume inheritance tax will heavily hit property wealth.

But structure matters.

A recent family case involved:

• Two children
• Two houses
• Multiple generations
• €4 million of property wealth

The planning used life interests and dwelling house exemption instead of outright inheritances.

That allowed:
• One property to pass using inheritance tax thresholds
• Another to qualify for dwelling house exemption
• Future thresholds to be preserved for later inheritances

Result:
Only one final inheritance triggered inheritance tax.

Approximate total tax:

€250,000 on €4 million transferred.

An effective inheritance tax rate of around 6%.

Most families never use these reliefs properly because the sequencing is wrong from the beginning.

For inheritance tax planning advice, go to taxunwrapped.ie
And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

13/05/2026

The Irish tax case that never died.

A jockey won a race in 1923.

A writer paid tax because of it 100 years later.

A Supreme Court tax case from 1923 resurfaced almost a century later in a dispute involving an Irish author and a €30,000 literary prize.

The original case involved legendary jockey Morny Wing.

After winning the Irish Derby, he received a £400 “present” from the horse owner for his “very fine riding”.

Revenue assessed it to tax.

Wing argued the payment was a personal gift, voluntary and unexpected, rather than income from his profession.

The dispute reached the Supreme Court.

Revenue won.

The Court held that where a payment is connected to professional success, it can still be taxable even if it appears voluntary or honorary.

That principle became embedded in Irish tax law.

Decades later, an Irish author found himself facing the same reasoning.

He had already used most of his artist exemption when he received a prestigious international literary prize worth €30,000.

He believed the award was honorary and outside the charge to tax.

Revenue relied on the old Supreme Court authority.

The Tax Appeals Commission said it was bound by the precedent and ruled the prize taxable.

The result was a substantial tax bill.

This is one of the clearest examples of how historic Irish tax cases still shape modern Revenue decisions.

If you want more real Irish tax cases explained clearly, follow Tax Unwrapped.

And if you need advice on your own tax position, visit the link in my bio or go to taxunwrapped.ie.

And don’t forget, we advise and implement.

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