Initial coin offering (ICO) in Ireland designates a term through which a
company can obtain
funds from the public. This is done by
issuing tokens or virtual coins that can be exchanged with other types of currencies, but in most cases,
virtual currencies are used. When
opening a company in Ireland that deals with
ICOs, investors should also consider the tax regulations available for this type of business activity.
However, it is necessary to mention that up until now,
Ireland does not have a tax legislation which specifically addresses to
ICOs; instead, the
Irish Revenue Commissioners issued a guidance concerning the
tax perspective on cryptocurrency investments, under the
Taxation of Cryptocurrency Transactions (
The Tax and Duty Manual);
our team of consultants in Ireland company formation can offer in-depth information on the rules of law that can be applicable to
Irish ICOs.
What are the advantages of Irish ICOs?
One of the advantages of starting an
ICO investment in Ireland is given by the fact that, under the view of the
Irish legislation, certain types of
ICO activities can be exempted from value added tax; however, a close analysis regarding this matter should be conducted in order to verify if the specific
ICO activity developed here is actually exempted from this tax and
our team of specialists in company registration in Ireland can further advise on this matter. Other relevant advantages of
Irish ICOs are presented below:
-
• ICOs investments can be very attractive in the field of blockchain technologies;
-
• ICOs can benefit from a faster fundraising activity compared to the traditional means of obtaining capital;
-
• businessmen investing in ICOs can easily target their investment markets in the online environment;
-
• there are more types of tokens used for ICOs, such as the utility tokens and the security tokens.
Do ICOs activities need to be licensed in Ireland?
There is no statutory legislation regarding the
issuance of a license for the
operator of a digital platform issuing ICOs. However, investors may need to
obtain an authorization for their transaction platform, depending on the nature of their
digital assets. In the situation in which such assets are considered
transferable securities, the operators will need to be registered with the institutions and we invite any businessman interested in this subject to
contact our
Ireland company formation experts for
professional consultancy services addressed to this sector.