Capital Gains Calculator Ireland: CGT on Property & Shares

Selling a property in Ireland can feel like a win—until the taxman’s share arrives. A capital gains calculator helps you see exactly where you stand, especially when you layer in the 33% rate, the €1,270 annual exemption, and two powerful reliefs that most owners overlook.

Current CGT rate: 33% ·
Annual tax-free allowance: €1,270 ·
Principal private residence exemption: Yes ·
7-year rule for property: Reduces taxable gain on disposals after 7 years

Six key facts, one pattern: the exemptions and reliefs can shrink your taxable gain far more than most people expect.

The parameters that drive the calculation are summarised below.

The takeaway: These six parameters form the backbone of any capital gains calculation for Irish property owners. Miss even one and you overpay.

How to use a capital gains calculator for Ireland?

What inputs do you need?

• Purchase price and date
• Sale price and date
• Acquisition costs (solicitor fees, stamp duty, survey costs)
• Enhancement expenditure (capital improvements, not repairs)
• Period of ownership (critical for 7-year rule and indexation)

Understanding the calculator output

A standard CGT computation starts with gross sale proceeds, subtracts acquisition cost, incidental costs of acquisition and disposal, and enhancement expenditure to arrive at the gain before reliefs, explains Nathan Trust (Irish tax advisory firm). After that, you apply PPR relief, the annual €1,270 exemption, and multiply the remaining taxable gain by the 33% rate. According to PwC (global professional services firm), the annual exemption is €1,270 per individual.

What this means: The calculator is only as good as the inputs you feed it. Miss a capital improvement receipt and you lose a deduction.

What are the capital gains tax exemptions in Ireland?

Principal private residence relief

Revenue confirms that if a house or apartment was your only or main residence and used entirely as your home throughout the period of ownership, the gain on disposal is fully exempt from CGT (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)). The relief is restricted if any part of the dwelling was used exclusively for business or if there were periods when it was not occupied as the principal residence.

Annual exemption (€1,270)

Every individual can realise the first €1,270 of net chargeable gains (after losses) in a tax year free of CGT (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)). The exemption applies whether or not you are otherwise liable to CGT that year.

Gifts between spouses

Transfers between spouses are exempt from CGT. This is a straightforward relief that also applies on death.

The pattern: Most Irish property owners can fully shield their primary home. The annual exemption is small but useful for shares or second properties.

How to avoid capital gains tax on property in Ireland?

Using the 7-year rule

• Property acquired between 7 December 2011 and 31 December 2014 qualifies if held for at least 7 years (McCullagh Higgins (Irish law firm))
• If held exactly 7 years, the gain during that period is fully exempt
• If held longer, the exempt proportion is 7 years divided by total ownership period

Inheritance and gift strategies

Inheriting a property does not trigger CGT at inheritance—the beneficiary takes on the deceased’s base cost. Gifts between spouses are also exempt. For acquisitions from relatives under the 7-year relief, the purchaser must pay at least 75% of market value (McCullagh Higgins (Irish law firm)).

Offsetting losses

Losses from disposals of other assets (e.g., shares sold at a loss) can be offset against chargeable gains in the same or subsequent years. Revenue requires that losses be claimed within the relevant tax return.

The trade-off: Holding a property past the 7-year mark reduces the exempt proportion. Selling between year 4 and year 7 (under the 2017 amendment) gives full relief on the gain, but then you lose future appreciation shielding.

What is the 7-year capital gains tax exemption?

How the 7-year rule works

Introduced by Section 604A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, the relief applies to land and buildings purchased between 7 December 2011 and 31 December 2014 (McCullagh Higgins (Irish law firm)). For a property held exactly 7 years, the gain attributable to that ownership period is fully exempt. For longer holdings, the exempt portion is 7 years divided by total ownership years. For example, ByrneWallace Shields calculates that if held 10 years, 70% (7/10) of the gain is exempt (ByrneWallace Shields (commercial law firm)).

Impact on calculating the gain

The Finance (No. 2) Act 2013 extended the qualifying acquisition period to 31 December 2014 (Morgan McManus Solicitors (Irish law firm)). The 2017 amendment allows full relief on disposals between the 4th and 7th anniversaries. After the 7th anniversary, the proportional exemption formula applies again. The relief covers both residential and commercial property, provided the land is in an EEA state and income from it is within the Irish tax net (Morgan McManus Solicitors (Irish law firm)).

The implication: Owners who acquired qualifying property in 2014 are now approaching or past the 7-year mark. The clock is ticking on the full exemption window, and selling after 2021 reduces the proportional relief.

How does the capital gains tax indexation table work?

What is indexation?

Indexation (inflation) relief allows costs incurred before 1 January 2003 to be uplifted by inflation factors published by the Central Statistics Office (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)). This effectively reduces the chargeable gain by reflecting that inflation alone increased the nominal value. Revenue clarifies that expenditure after 1 January 2003 is not indexed.

Using Revenue’s indexation table

The table is published annually by Revenue Ireland and applies only to allowable costs incurred before 2003. According to KLT (Irish tax and accounting firm), indexation relief still operates for calculating gains where the acquisition and qualifying expenditure occurred prior to 2003. For assets acquired before 2003, applying the correct indexation factor can significantly lower the gain.

The catch: Indexation only helps for pre-2003 costs. Anyone who bought after 2002 cannot benefit unless they inherited a property with pre-2003 base costs.

What are the capital gains tax rates on property in Ireland?

Standard rate (33%)

The main CGT rate is 33% for most gains, as confirmed by Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority). This applies to individuals on gains from property, shares, and other assets after applying exemptions and reliefs.

Special rates for venture capital and foreign life policies

• 40% rate applies to gains from foreign life policies and foreign investment products (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority))
• 15% rate for gains from venture capital funds
• 12.5% rate for gains from venture capital funds for certain investors

The pattern: The 33% rate dominates for property, but foreign life policy gains face a higher 40% rate. Check your asset type before calculating.

How to calculate CGT on property in Ireland: step-by-step

1. Determine the gain: Sale proceeds minus purchase price minus allowable expenses (solicitor, auctioneer, survey, stamp duty, capital improvements).
2. Apply indexation (if pre-2003 costs): Uplift pre-2003 costs by the relevant CSO inflation factor (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)).
3. Apply 7-year relief (if property acquired 2011-2014): Multiply the gain by 7 ÷ total years of ownership to get the exempt portion (McCullagh Higgins (Irish law firm)).
4. Apply PPR relief (if principal residence): Deduct the proportion of gain attributable to the period it was your home.
5. Subtract annual exemption: Deduct €1,270 from the remaining gain (Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)).
6. Multiply by 33%: The result is your CGT liability.
7. File and pay: Use Revenue’s myAccount system. For disposals between January and November, payment is due by 15 December of the same year. For December disposals, by 31 January of the following year (PwC (global professional services firm)).

Expert perspectives

The rate of CGT is 33% for most gains. These rates are: 40% for gains from foreign life policies, 15% for gains from venture capital funds, 12.5% for gains from venture capital funds for certain investors.

— Revenue Commissioners (official tax authority)

Annual gains up to €1,270 for an individual are exempt from CGT. The standard CGT rate for individuals is 33%.

— PwC (global professional services firm)

If a qualifying property is held for ten years, 7/10ths (70%) of the gain is exempt and only 30% is chargeable to CGT.

— ByrneWallace Shields (commercial law firm)

For Irish property owners who acquired between December 2011 and December 2014, the 7-year relief remains a powerful tool—but it’s shrinking as time passes. The combination of the proportional exemption, annual allowance, PPR relief, and indexation (for older assets) can cut a six-figure gain down to a fraction of its face value. For anyone selling in 2025 or beyond, the choice is clear: run the numbers through a capital gains calculator with all reliefs applied, or risk leaving thousands on Revenue’s table. For owners of non-qualifying property, the annual exemption and loss offset are your main levers—use them every year.

Related reading: When Can I File My Taxes? Ireland Tax Return Deadlines & Tips

Frequently asked questions