Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 21

The charge to corporation tax and exclusion of income tax and capital gains tax

Section 21 sets out the rates of corporation tax charged on company profits and confirms that companies within the charge to corporation tax are generally excluded from income tax and capital gains tax on the same income or gains.

• The standard rate of corporation tax is 12.5% for the financial year 2003 and all subsequent financial years, having been reduced in stages from 32% in 1998.
• Profits from qualifying shipping activities and tonnage tax profits were brought into the 12.5% rate early, applying from the financial years 2001 and 2002 respectively.
• A company resident in the State is not chargeable to income tax on its own profits (though it may still need to deduct income tax from certain payments); a non-resident company is likewise excluded from income tax on income that falls within the charge to corporation tax.
• Companies are charged to corporation tax rather than capital gains tax on their chargeable gains, with the exception of development land gains, which remain subject to capital gains tax under section 649.