The Ireland’s Ministry of Finance announced tax rules changes on 14 October 2014 with the plan to attract foreign investment through creating a competitive environment. The summary of the changes are as follows:

  • Elimination of maximum allowances available in each year for intellectual property (IP) assets and incorporating a Knowledge Development Box;
  • Increasing the 25% research and development (R&D) tax credit regime through moving to a full volume based regime as of 2015;
  • Escalating the expatriate tax rules through developments to the Special Assignee Relief Program (SARP) to attract key skills and to increase Irish Revenue investment in competent authority resources to address transfer pricing disputes.