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Ireland

#29 overall · Score 62.2 / 100 · up one place from 2025

Overall

#29

62.2 / 100

up one place from 2025

Corporate

#4

81.8 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Individual

#36

45.0 / 100

up one place from 2025

Consumption

#35

37.8 / 100

up one place from 2025

Property

#18

61.8 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Cross-border

#27

61.9 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Strengths

  • Ireland has a low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent.
  • Net operating losses can be carried back one year and carried forward indefinitely, allowing companies to be taxed on their average profitability.
  • The tax treaty network (74 treaties) is just below the OECD average of 75 countries.

Weaknesses

  • Ireland's personal tax rate on dividend income of 51 percent is the highest among OECD countries.
  • The VAT rate of 23 percent is one of the highest in the OECD and applies to a relatively narrow tax base, subject to one of the highest VAT thresholds.
  • Corporations are limited in their ability to write off investments.

Component Scores

Ireland category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 81.8, rank 4. Individual Taxes: score 45.0, rank 36. Consumption Taxes: score 37.8, rank 35. Property Taxes: score 61.8, rank 18. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 61.9, rank 27255075100Corporate Taxes: 81.8 (rank 4)Individual Taxes: 45.0 (rank 36)Consumption Taxes: 37.8 (rank 35)Property Taxes: 61.8 (rank 18)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 61.9 (rank 27)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #4 81.8 unchanged from 2025
Individual Taxes #36 45.0 up one place from 2025
Consumption Taxes #35 37.8 up one place from 2025
Property Taxes #18 61.8 unchanged from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #27 61.9 unchanged from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

Ireland's best overall rank was 29th and its worst was 32nd. It ranks 29th in 2026.

Overall rank by year for IrelandIreland: 2014 rank 30, 2015 rank 30, 2016 rank 32, 2017 rank 30, 2018 rank 30, 2019 rank 30, 2020 rank 31, 2021 rank 29, 2022 rank 32, 2023 rank 32, 2024 rank 32, 2025 rank 30, 2026 rank 292014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026Ireland 2014: rank 30Ireland 2015: rank 30Ireland 2016: rank 32Ireland 2017: rank 30Ireland 2018: rank 30Ireland 2019: rank 30Ireland 2020: rank 31Ireland 2021: rank 29Ireland 2022: rank 32Ireland 2023: rank 32Ireland 2024: rank 32Ireland 2025: rank 30Ireland 2026: rank 29#30#29

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. Ireland is highlighted; the dashed line is the OECD median.

All 38 Countries' Ranks

Overall and category ranks for all 38 countries
CountryOverallCorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Estonia#1#2#1#24#1#7
Latvia#2#1#8#22#4#6
New Zealand#3#31#7#1#8#14
Switzerland#4#7#9#4#36#2
Lithuania#5#3#10#23#6#16
Luxembourg#6#20#21#7#15#5
Czech Republic#7#9#4#32#5#11
Australia#8#29#14#9#3#23
Turkey#9#21#6#15#22#8
Hungary#10#5#3#38#23#4
Israel#11#11#31#11#10#18
Slovak Republic#12#24#2#33#7#17
Sweden#13#6#18#26#9#12
Costa Rica#14#35#13#6#11#29
Canada#15#17#28#8#25#28
Netherlands#16#23#30#14#20#3
United States#17#8#17#3#27#37
Austria#18#18#27#17#17#10
Germany#19#30#34#13#12#9
Norway#20#15#29#27#16#15
Mexico#21#28#26#12#2#38
Finland#22#10#24#28#21#24
Greece#23#22#5#29#30#19
Chile#24#32#23#10#13#36
Slovenia#25#14#12#30#24#30
Korea#26#26#38#2#31#34
Belgium#27#16#15#25#28#21
Japan#28#36#35#5#26#31
Ireland#29#4#36#35#18#27
United Kingdom#30#25#22#34#33#1
Denmark#31#19#37#20#14#32
Poland#32#12#11#36#29#25
Portugal#33#34#19#21#19#33
Iceland#34#13#32#19#34#26
Spain#35#33#20#18#35#20
Italy#36#27#16#37#38#22
Colombia#37#37#25#16#37#35
France#38#38#33#31#32#13

Among European Peers

Ireland ranks 19th of 27 European OECD members on the overall index.

Source: 2026 International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Notes on the Data

The 2026 Index uses the most up-to-date data available as of July 2026. Data may not reflect changes in countries making rapid reforms.

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About the Authors

Alex Mengden Tax Foundation
Expert

Alex Mengden

Economist

Alex Mengden is an Economist at the Tax Foundation, where he focuses on international tax issues and tax policy in Europe. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Bayreuth and an MSc in economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Tax Foundation Staff

Luis Zarka

Transatlantic Tax Fellow

Luis Zarka was a 2026 Transatlantic Tax Fellow with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy.

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Vice President of Communications

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