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Moving to Ireland · Taxes · Reviewed September 4, 2026

Taxes in Ireland for US citizens

Two systems will have a claim on you: Ireland's, because you live there, and the American one, because you are a citizen. This page sets out how they fit together, what Ireland's agreements with the US do and do not cover, and the order things happen in during your move year.

Top personal rate52%US federal top rate 37%
VAT / consumption tax23%US sales tax averages 7.5%
US income tax treatyIn forceTie-breaker available
Totalization agreementIn forceOne social security system

This is not tax advice. Cross-border outcomes turn on facts this page cannot know: your visa category, your income mix, where your employer is incorporated, what you own and when you bought it. Use this to ask a qualified cross-border accountant better questions, and verify every figure against Ireland's tax authority and, for the US side, the IRS guidance for citizens abroad.

Your position in Ireland

When you become tax residentYou are Irish tax resident if you spend 183 days or more in Ireland in a calendar tax year, or 280 days or more across the current and preceding tax years combined, with any year of 30 days or fewer disregarded. Any part of a day counts as a day. After three consecutive resident years you also become ordinarily resident from the start of the fourth year. Domicile is separate and much harder to change than residence.
US income tax treatyIn force
Totalization agreementIn force
Top personal income tax rate52% · US federal 37%
VAT / consumption tax23% · US sales tax averages 7.5%
Official sourceIreland tax authority →
NotesIreland's tax year is the calendar year, so it lines up with the US filing year. Income tax is 20% on the first €44,000 for a single person and 40% above that in 2026, with a €2,000 single person credit and a €2,000 employee credit. On top of income tax you pay the Universal Social Charge (0.5%, 2%, 3% and 8% bands, the top rate starting at €70,044) and employee PRSI of 4.2%, rising to 4.35% on 1 October 2026. The top marginal rate on employment income is therefore about 52%. The 40% band starting at €44,000 is the single biggest tax shock for Americans, since it bites far earlier than the US 22% and 24% brackets. The 1997 US-Ireland income tax treaty and its 1999 protocol are in force, and the US-Ireland totalization agreement means you pay social security in one country only, evidenced by a certificate of coverage. The 2026 foreign earned income exclusion is $132,900, but because Irish tax usually exceeds US tax on the same salary, most Americans in Ireland do better with the foreign tax credit on Form 1116. If you are resident but not Irish domiciled, Revenue applies the remittance basis to foreign income, so US-source income you leave in US accounts can fall outside Irish tax. That treatment is fact-specific, and Irish exit-tax rules on funds plus US PFIC rules on non-US funds make investment accounts genuinely difficult. Get cross-border advice before you move money.

Ireland's tax year is the calendar year, so your Irish and US filing periods line up. You become Irish tax resident at 183 days in a year, or 280 days across the current and previous year with any year of 30 days or fewer ignored. Any part of a day counts.

The rates are the shock. In 2026 a single person pays 20% on the first €44,000 and 40% above it, with a €2,000 personal credit and a €2,000 employee credit. The Universal Social Charge then adds 0.5%, 2%, 3% and 8% bands, with 8% starting at €70,044, and employee PRSI adds 4.2%, rising to 4.35% on 1 October 2026. The top marginal rate on employment income is around 52%. On average weekly earnings of €1,046.88, roughly €54,400 a year, a single employee nets about €3,499 a month, close to $4,059.

On the US side, the 1997 treaty and 1999 protocol are in force, and the totalization agreement means you pay social security in one country only, evidenced by a certificate of coverage. The 2026 foreign earned income exclusion is $132,900, but Irish tax on a normal salary usually exceeds US tax on the same income, so the foreign tax credit is often the better tool.

The real planning point is domicile. Revenue applies the remittance basis to a resident who is not Irish domiciled, so foreign income left outside Ireland can escape Irish tax. Irish exit-tax rules on funds and US PFIC rules on non-US funds pull in opposite directions. Take advice before you move a brokerage account.

The United States does not stop taxing you

The US taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. Moving to Ireland adds a second tax system; it does not remove the first one. Most Americans abroad end up owing little or nothing to the IRS, but that outcome is produced by filing correctly, not by leaving.

Two mechanisms produce that result. The foreign earned income exclusion removes foreign wages and self-employment profit up to an annually indexed cap, but reaches earned income only and does nothing about self-employment tax. The foreign tax credit offsets US tax dollar-for-dollar with income tax actually paid to Ireland, reaches passive income the exclusion cannot, and can leave credits to carry forward. You cannot apply both to the same dollar. Separately, FBAR and FATCA reporting is triggered by account balances rather than by tax owed, and carries penalties out of all proportion to the tax at stake.

The full mechanics are the same wherever you move, so they live in one place: US taxes when you live abroad covers the exclusion tests, the credit, treaties and the saving clause, FBAR and FATCA thresholds, self-employment tax and state residency. The rest of this page is what Ireland specifically changes.

Which mechanism fits Ireland

Ireland's top rate of 52% sits at or above the US federal top rate of 37%. Local tax is doing the heavy lifting, so the foreign tax credit is the mechanism worth modelling first: it usually eliminates the US liability outright and leaves excess credits to carry forward.

Self-employment in Ireland

A totalization agreement covers Ireland, so a self-employed American here can normally be assigned to one social security system and exempted from the other, evidenced by a certificate of coverage. Arrange it at the start of the engagement, not at filing time.

US-side official references: FEIE ·Foreign tax credit ·FBAR ·FATCA reporting ·Totalization agreements

Which relief mechanism reaches which income

The most common planning error is assuming the exclusion covers everything. It covers one category. This table maps each kind of income against the mechanisms available to you, with the last column set to Ireland's recorded agreement status.

General map of relief by income type, with the treaty column reflecting Ireland's recorded status. A starting point for a conversation with an accountant, not a determination.
Income typeForeign earned income exclusionForeign tax creditTreaty position for Ireland
Wages earned while living in IrelandYes, up to the annual cap, if you pass the residence or presence testYes, on anything above the cap or not excludedThe employment income article assigns the primary taxing right
Self-employment profitIncome tax only. Self-employment tax survives the exclusionYes, against income tax on the same profitTotalization decides which social security system you pay into
Dividends and interestNo. It reaches earned income onlyYes, for foreign tax actually paid on itDividend and interest articles usually cap withholding
Capital gains on investmentsNoYes, where a foreign tax is paid on the same gainA gains article assigns the taxing right by asset type
Rental income from propertyNoYes, for foreign tax charged on foreign propertyImmovable property is normally taxed where it sits
Pensions and retirement account withdrawalsNoYes, where foreign tax is charged on the withdrawalThe pension article decides. Read it before you draw
US Social Security benefitsNoDepends which country is entitled to tax themMany treaties assign them to one country only

Read the rows against your own income mix. Someone on a local salary and nothing else uses one row of this table. Someone with a brokerage account, a rental at home and vesting equity uses five, and each one can land in a different country.

What Ireland's agreements with the US actually change

The general mechanics above apply to every American abroad. What differs country by country is which of them Ireland has an agreement to soften. Of the 15 countries covered on this site, 15 have a US income tax treaty, 12 have a totalization agreement and 12 have both. Ireland is the case below.

Treaty and totalization status for Ireland, and the mechanism each one affects
IssueStatus for IrelandWhat that means for you
Double tax on employment incomeTreaty in forceA US–Ireland income tax treaty exists, so each type of income has an assigned taxing country and there is a defined route to relief rather than an argument. You still file both returns; the treaty decides who taxes what first.
Being treated as resident by both countriesTie-breaker availableTreaties carry a residence tie-breaker: permanent home, then centre of vital interests, then habitual abode, then nationality. It gives you a defensible answer in the year you move, when both countries can plausibly claim you.
Social security and payroll contributionsTotalization in forceA totalization agreement covers the US and Ireland, so the same earnings are not charged to both social security systems. It also lets contribution periods in each country count toward qualifying for a benefit in the other.
Self-employment and freelancingCertificate of coverage routeWhere an agreement applies, a certificate of coverage from the system you do pay into is what you show the other one. Get it before the first invoice, not after the first assessment.
Pensions, retirement accounts and investment incomeTreaty articles applyTreaty articles usually address pensions, dividends, interest and capital gains separately from wages. Read the specific articles: a treaty that solves your salary can leave your brokerage account taxed in a way you did not expect.

Treaty and totalization status is recorded from the sources listed at the foot of this page. Agreements are amended and protocols enter force on their own timetable, so check the current text before taking a position on a return.

Two numbers worth running before you move

Consumption tax, which nobody models

Income tax gets the attention. Consumption tax takes its slice every month without appearing on any return. A US household spending the national average net salary of $4,230 a month would need roughly $4,230 a month in Ireland for the same basket, at Ireland's overall price level. Of that, the VAT embedded in the prices is up to about $791 a month, against roughly $295 in embedded sales tax at home.

Indicative consumption tax inside an equivalent monthly basket
MeasureUnited StatesIreland
Headline consumption tax rate7.5%23%
Equivalent monthly basket$4,230$4,230
Tax inside that basket, per month$295$791
Per year$3,540$9,492

A ceiling, not a bill. It assumes the whole net salary is spent, and in practice rent sits outside VAT in most systems while food, medicine, books and transport often carry reduced or zero rates, so real exposure lands below this line. The direction of the gap is the useful part: about $496 more per month than at home, before any reduced rate applies.

Marginal rate, read honestly

Ireland's top personal rate is 52% against a US federal top rate of 37%, a gap of +15 points. That comparison is weaker than it looks in both directions. The US figure excludes state income tax, which can add several points on top. The Irish figure bites at its own threshold, which may be far lower or far higher in income terms than the US bracket it is being compared to. Top rates tell you the shape of a system, not your bill. Model your actual income against the brackets on the official site before you decide anything.

Check what your salary is worth in Ireland →

How Ireland compares on tax across our dataset

Ireland ranks 12 of 15 on headline top personal rate, lowest first, with 3 countries charging a higher top rate. Every row links to that country's own tax page.

Top personal rate, VAT and US agreement status, lowest top rate first
CountryTop rateVATUS treatyTotalization
United States (baseline)37%7.5%Not applicableNot applicable
Mexico35%16%YesNo
Thailand35%7%YesNo
New Zealand39%15%YesNo
Italy43%22%YesYes
Australia45%10%YesYes
United Kingdom45%20%YesYes
Spain47%21%YesYes
Norway47.4%25%YesYes
Germany47.5%19%YesYes
Portugal48%23%YesYes
Netherlands49.5%21%YesYes
Ireland · this page52%23%YesYes
Sweden52.4%25%YesYes
Canada53.5%5%YesYes
Japan55.9%10%YesYes

Headline rates only. They ignore social contributions, local surtaxes, wealth and inheritance taxes, and the very different incomes at which each top rate starts. A country with a high top rate that begins at a high threshold can cost a middle earner less than one with a lower rate that begins early.

The sequence of tax events in your move year

The move year is the messy one: part-year residence in two systems, two calendars, and deadlines that do not line up. This is the order things generally happen in.

  1. Before you leaveFix the date you stop being a US state resident and the date you land, because almost every later question is answered by those two dates. Take a snapshot of account balances, unrealised gains and any equity vesting schedule. Selling before you become Ireland tax resident is a different transaction from selling after.
  2. The day you arriveRecord the arrival date against something durable, such as a boarding pass, a lease or a registration receipt, because you may have to evidence it years later. It is the day the clock starts on the rule that decides your Irish tax residency: You are Irish tax resident if you spend 183 days or more in Ireland in a calendar tax year, or 280 days or more across the current and preceding tax years combined, with any year of 30 days or fewer disregarded. Any part of a day counts as a day. After three consecutive resident years you also become ordinarily resident from the start of the fourth year. Domicile is separate and much harder to change than residence.
  3. Weeks 1 to 8: register locallyA local tax number is usually a precondition for a bank account, a lease and a payroll run, so it happens early whether or not you feel like a taxpayer yet. Registering does not by itself make you resident; the residency rule above does.
  4. First local filingYour first Irish return covers only the part of the year you were resident, in most systems, and it is the return where split-year treatment is claimed if the country offers it. Deadlines rarely match the US calendar.
  5. First US filing from abroadTaxpayers whose tax home is abroad get an automatic extension beyond the April deadline, and a further extension on request. The extension is for filing, not for paying: interest runs from the original date.
  6. The same season: information returnsThe FBAR and, above higher thresholds, Form 8938 are filed on their own schedules and carry their own penalties. They report balances, not income, so people who owe nothing still miss them and still get penalised.
  7. Month 12 onwardThe bona fide residence test needs an uninterrupted tax year abroad, so the first full calendar year is often the first year you can use it. Until then the physical presence test, 330 full days abroad in a 12-month window, is usually the only route to the exclusion.

State residency: the bill people do not expect

Federal filing is the obligation everyone knows about. The one that catches people is the state they left. States set their own residency rules, and several test domicile, meaning your permanent home in intent, rather than where you physically are. Under a domicile test you can spend a full year in Ireland and still be assessed as a resident of your old state, on your worldwide income, with none of the federal relief above available against it. The FEIE and the foreign tax credit are federal mechanisms, and a state is not required to follow them.

What severing residency usually rests on, and what to be able to evidence:

  • Ending the lease or selling the home, rather than keeping it available to you.
  • Surrendering the state driver's licence and voter registration.
  • Moving vehicle registration, professional licences and mailing address out of state.
  • Where dependants live and where school-age children are enrolled.
  • Day counts, kept contemporaneously. A calendar reconstructed three years later convinces nobody.
  • Filing a final part-year return for the state, which is what formally closes the file.

Check your specific state's rule before you leave, not after. It is easier to establish that you left cleanly on the way out than to argue it from Dublin two years later.

What to keep, from day one

  • A day-count log with arrival and departure dates for every trip, including trips back to the US. Both the physical presence test and Ireland's own residency rule are decided on days.
  • Local payslips and the annual Irish tax assessment, which is the evidence of foreign tax paid that a credit claim rests on.
  • Year-end statements for every non-US account, plus the maximum balance during the year, which is what the FBAR asks for and what banks rarely show by default.
  • Cost basis and acquisition dates for anything you owned before you moved, in USD at the time.
  • Your certificate of coverage, if a totalization agreement applies to you.
  • The exchange rates you used, and the source of them, applied consistently across the year.

Tax questions about Ireland

Do I still pay US taxes if I live in Ireland?

Yes. US citizens file federal returns on worldwide income no matter where they live, plus FBAR and often Form 8938 for foreign accounts. The 2026 foreign earned income exclusion is $132,900, but because Irish tax on a typical salary reaches roughly 52% at the margin, most Americans in Ireland end up better off claiming the foreign tax credit on Form 1116 instead. The 1997 treaty prevents double taxation on most income types.

Sources and review

The Ireland-specific figures on this page, meaning the residency rule, treaty and totalization status, rates and notes, come from the sources below. The general US mechanics are described from published IRS, FinCEN and SSA guidance, linked inline above.

What these numbers are. The headline figures were re-derived from primary sources during review. Some category indices could not be matched to a published statistic and are reasoned estimates, marked as such in the list below. Where a source entry says a value is derived, estimated or crowd-sourced, that is exactly what it is: no international body publishes a like-for-like index for every category, and private insurance premiums are not published at all in most countries. Rent figures are national market averages, so a capital city will run above them. How the dataset is built.

  1. OECD, Monthly comparative price levels (Ireland relative to the United States = 100, July 2026), SDMX dataflow OECD.SDD.TPS DSD_PPP_M@DF_PP_CPL_M. Used for col_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  2. OECD, PPP detailed results: price level indices with base reference area United States, 2024 benchmark. Ireland household final consumption 95.5; food and non-alcoholic beverages 98.1; transport 114; restaurants and accommodation 105; alcohol 141; tobacco 188; health 84.4; education 50.1; clothing and footwear 88.7. The groceries, transport and dining indices on this page are these figures scaled by 100/95.5 to align with the July 2026 overall level (98.1 to 103, 114 to 119, 105 to 110). The rent and utilities indices are NOT derived this way: rent uses the RTB and Census sources below, and utilities uses the energy price and consumption sources below, because the OECD's only housing category (A0104, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, at 104) bundles rent with utilities and would double count. — accessed September 4, 2026
  3. Residential Tenancies Board, RTB Rent Index Q1 2026 (published September 2026), the latest available. New-tenancy standardised average rent: national €1,839 (up 9.1% year on year, from 5.4% in Q4 2025); Dublin €2,335; non-Dublin €1,486; Dublin one-bedroom apartment €1,951 (Table 4); non-Dublin one-bedroom apartment €1,124. The report attributes the acceleration to revised rent control rules from 1 March 2026 allowing rents to be reset to market levels between tenancies, while cautioning it is too early to separate a one-off adjustment from a sustained shift. — accessed September 4, 2026
  4. US Census Bureau, Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (HVS), Q2 2026. Median asking rent for vacant for-rent units $1,531, used as the US baseline for rent_index_vs_us. Note: census.gov blocks automated access, so this figure could not be re-verified programmatically at the time of writing and is the main reason data_confidence is medium rather than high. — accessed September 4, 2026
  5. Central Statistics Office, Earnings and Labour Costs Q1 2026 (Final) and Q2 2026 (Preliminary). Average weekly earnings €1,046.88, used to derive gross annual earnings of €54,438 and the net salary figure. — accessed September 4, 2026
  6. Central Statistics Office, Population and Migration Estimates, April 2026. Population 5.526 million, net migration 48,100. — accessed September 4, 2026
  7. European Central Bank, euro reference exchange rate against the US dollar. All euro figures on this page were converted at $1.16 per euro, the rate prevailing in early September 2026. — accessed September 4, 2026
  8. Revenue Commissioners, Tax rates, bands and reliefs (2026). Single person standard rate band €44,000 at 20% with the balance at 40%; single person credit €2,000; employee PAYE credit €2,000. — accessed September 4, 2026
  9. Revenue Commissioners, Residence for tax purposes. States the 183-day test, the 280-day test across the current and preceding tax year, the 30-day disregard, and that any part of a day present in the State counts as a day. — accessed September 4, 2026
  10. Revenue Commissioners, Universal Social Charge standard rates and thresholds (2026). 0.5% on the first €12,012, 2% on the next €16,688, 3% on the next €41,344 and 8% on the balance above €70,044. With the 40% income tax band and 4.2% employee PRSI this gives the ~52% top marginal rate on employment income. — accessed September 4, 2026
  11. Department of Social Protection, PRSI contribution rates and user guide 2026 (SW 14), January 2026 edition. States that Class A employee PRSI is calculated at 4.2% until 30 September 2026 and 4.35% from 1 October 2026. This is the PRSI input to the ~52% top marginal rate and to the net salary derivation. — accessed September 4, 2026
  12. Health Service Executive, Schemes and allowances. The HSE's own hub for medical cards, GP visit cards and the Drugs Payment Scheme (capped at €80 a month), used as healthcare.official_url because the HSE is Ireland's national health authority. — accessed September 4, 2026
  13. Revenue Commissioners, Current VAT rates (effective 1 January 2026). Standard rate 23%, reduced 13.5%, second reduced 9%. — accessed September 4, 2026
  14. IRS, Ireland tax treaty documents. 1997 income tax convention and 1999 amending protocol. — accessed September 4, 2026
  15. IRS, tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Foreign earned income exclusion $132,900. — accessed September 4, 2026
  16. Department of Social Protection, Operational Guidelines: application of bilateral social security agreements. Lists the agreement with the United States of America as in force from 1 September 1993 (S.I. No. 243 of 1993), which is the basis for totalization_agreement: true. — accessed September 4, 2026
  17. IRS, Totalization agreements. Explains that these agreements avoid double social security taxation and that an individual claiming exemption must secure a Certificate of Coverage from the social security agency of their home country. (The Social Security Administration's own Ireland pamphlet blocks automated retrieval, so it is not cited here.) — accessed September 4, 2026
  18. Citizens Information, Entitlement to health services. Ordinary residence definition, Category 1 and Category 2 eligibility, documentation the HSE accepts. — accessed September 4, 2026
  19. Citizens Information, Charges for hospital services. In-patient and day-case charges abolished 17 April 2023; €100 emergency department charge without GP referral; €75 injury unit charge. — accessed September 4, 2026
  20. Citizens Information, Drugs Payment Scheme. Monthly household cap of €80 for prescribed drugs and medicines. — accessed September 4, 2026
  21. Health Insurance Authority, Quarterly Report on Health Insurance, Q4 2025 (as at 31 December 2025), the most recent bulletin published. Average adult premium €1,902 a year, which at the ECB rate of $1.16 is about $184 a month, the figure used for typical_private_insurance_usd_month; 2.55 million people with health insurance, about 46% of a population of 5.53 million; 328 in-patient plans available to consumers. — accessed September 4, 2026
  22. Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Critical Skills Employment Permit. Salary thresholds €36,848, €40,904 and €68,911; €1,000 fee; Stamp 4 after two years. — accessed September 4, 2026
  23. Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, General Employment Permit. Minimum remuneration €36,605 (€32,691 for listed care and food roles); €500 and €1,000 fees; long-term residence after five years. — accessed September 4, 2026
  24. Immigration Service Delivery, I want to retire to Ireland (Stamp 0). €50,000 annual income, lump sum equal to the price of a dwelling, Irish accountant certification, private medical insurance, four-month processing. — accessed September 4, 2026
  25. Immigration Service Delivery, Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP). Programme open (only Russian and Belarusian applicants are excluded); requires €50,000 secured funding and an innovative business proposal; €350 application fee. — accessed September 4, 2026
  26. Immigration Service Delivery, Start-up Entrepreneur Programme Guidelines. High potential start-up capable of creating 10 jobs and €1 million in sales within 3 years; €50,000 for the first principal and €30,000 for second and subsequent principals; residence for two years renewable for a further three; long-term residence after 5 years; the programme does not itself provide for citizenship. — accessed September 4, 2026
  27. Immigration Service Delivery, I want to invest in Ireland. Confirms the Immigrant Investor Programme is closed to new applications. — accessed September 4, 2026
  28. Embassy of Ireland USA, Working Holiday Authorisation. US citizens, $295 fee, 12 months non-extendable, $1,500 funds, €300 Irish Residence Permit fee. — accessed September 4, 2026
  29. Department of Foreign Affairs, Registering a Foreign Birth. Grandparent born in Ireland qualifies; €278 for over-18s and €153 for under-18s; approximately 12-month processing. — accessed September 4, 2026
  30. Immigration Service Delivery, frequently asked questions for students. Stamp 2, 20 hours term-time and 40 hours vacation work, Interim List of Eligible Programmes, Stamp 1G graduate permission of 12 months at level 8 within a seven-year student pathway cap and 24 months at level 9 or above within an eight-year cap, €300 registration fee, compulsory private medical insurance. — accessed September 4, 2026
  31. Eurostat, electricity prices for household consumers, band DC (2,500-4,999 kWh a year), all taxes and levies included (nrg_pc_204), pulled from the dissemination API for Ireland. €0.3231 per kWh in 2025-S1 and €0.4042 in 2025-S2, a calendar-2025 average of €0.3637. Band DC is the correct band because Irish household consumption of about 4,390 kWh a year sits inside it. This is the price input to utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  32. Eurostat, gas prices for household consumers, band D2 (20-199 GJ a year, i.e. 5,556-55,278 kWh), all taxes and levies included (nrg_pc_202), pulled from the dissemination API for Ireland. €0.1195 per kWh in 2025-S1 and €0.1300 in 2025-S2, a calendar-2025 average of €0.1248. Irish household gas use of about 8,880 kWh a year sits inside band D2. This is the heating price input to utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  33. Central Statistics Office, Metered Electricity Consumption 2025 (released 7 July 2026). Residential customers used 9,075 GWh across 2,278,989 residential meters; median consumption 3,228 kWh. The median is depressed by the roughly 234,600 meters (10% of the total) that drew under 1,000 kWh in 2025, which are vacant or rarely occupied dwellings. Excluding those, the remaining 2,044,374 meters average about 4,390 kWh a year, and that is the electricity consumption assumption behind utilities_index_vs_us. — accessed September 4, 2026
  34. Central Statistics Office, Number of Residential Electricity Meters (PxStat matrix MEC06) and Metered Electricity Consumption by county and sector (MEC03), 2025, read through the CSO PxStat REST API. Used to derive the meter counts by consumption band (2,647 meters at or below 0 kWh, 38,389 under 50 kWh, 13,976 under 100 kWh, 75,470 under 500 kWh and 104,133 under 1,000 kWh) that support the 4,390 kWh occupied-dwelling average. — accessed September 4, 2026
  35. Central Statistics Office, Networked Gas Consumption 2024. Residential sector used 6,175 GWh across 695,199 residential gas meters, a mean of 8,882 kWh per connected household; the median household was 7,771 kWh, and the Dublin County median 8,573 kWh. The mean of 8,882 kWh is the heating consumption assumption behind utilities_index_vs_us. Only about 695,000 of roughly 2.0 million occupied Irish dwellings are on the gas network, so oil and solid fuel heat much of the country and rural bills differ. — accessed September 4, 2026
  36. Central Statistics Office, Household Budget Survey 2022-2023, Average Weekly Household Expenditure (PxStat matrix HBS01), read through the CSO PxStat REST API. Urban households spent €4.77 a week on item 05.05, refuse and sewage collection and skip hire, which is the €20.67 a month refuse component of utilities_index_vs_us. The same table gives the cross-check on energy: urban households spent €60.63 a week on fuel and light in 2022-2023 (electricity €32.68, gas €18.40, liquid fuels €5.55, solid fuels €4.00). Repricing the electricity and gas components from the 2022-2023 Eurostat average to 2025 prices and holding oil and solid fuel flat implies about €305 a month for the full urban basket, i.e. an index near 165. The published figure of 136 is lower because it prices one gas-heated dwelling rather than the urban average household, which also buys heating oil and solid fuel. That spread is why data_confidence is medium. — accessed September 4, 2026
  37. Water Services Act 2017, section 10, inserting section 53C into the Water Services Act 2007: Irish Water (now Uisce Éireann) "shall not charge a customer for water services provided ... to the customer's dwelling over a 12 month period unless the water services so provided exceed the threshold amount". Domestic water and wastewater therefore contribute €0 to the Irish utilities basket, against a US average that bills them. — accessed September 4, 2026
  38. US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.3, average retail price of electricity to residential consumers. Calendar-2025 US average 17.30 cents per kWh (single months: 18.34 cents in June 2026). The 2025 annual figure is the like-for-like comparator to Ireland's calendar-2025 Eurostat average of €0.3637 per kWh (about $0.42), giving the 2.4x unit-price ratio quoted on this page. — accessed September 4, 2026
  39. US Energy Information Administration, US price of natural gas delivered to residential consumers, annual series. $15.34 per thousand cubic feet in 2025, about $0.052 per kWh, against Ireland's €0.1248 per kWh (about $0.145 at $1.16), so Irish piped gas costs roughly 2.8 times the US rate. The annual, volume-weighted figure is used rather than a single month, because low-consumption summer months spread fixed charges over few units and overstate the US unit price (June 2026 read $24.09 per thousand cubic feet on the monthly series). — accessed September 4, 2026
  40. US Energy Information Administration, FAQ: How much electricity does an American home use? Average annual electricity sold to a US residential customer was 10,791 kWh (2022, the latest year on the page), against about 4,390 kWh for an occupied Irish dwelling. Cited for context on why Ireland's 2.4x unit price does not produce a 2.4x bill. FULL DERIVATION OF utilities_index_vs_us = 136: monthly household bill for electricity, heating, water and refuse for a normal gas-heated Irish dwelling. Electricity 4,390 kWh a year (CSO Metered Electricity Consumption 2025, occupied-meter average) x €0.3637 per kWh (Eurostat nrg_pc_204 band DC, all taxes, calendar-2025 average) = €1,596 a year, €133 a month. Heating 8,882 kWh of piped gas a year (CSO Networked Gas Consumption 2024, mean per connected household) x €0.1248 per kWh (Eurostat nrg_pc_202 band D2, all taxes, calendar-2025 average) = €1,108 a year, €92 a month. Water and wastewater €0, because the Water Services Act 2017 bars charging a dwelling below an excessive-use threshold. Refuse €20.67 a month (CSO Household Budget Survey 2022-2023, urban households, €4.77 a week). Total €246 a month, which at the ECB rate of $1.16 per euro is $285, divided by the dataset's US monthly reference of $210 for the same basket and multiplied by 100 gives 136. Irish rents are quoted unbundled, so no part of this basket is hidden inside the rent. This is a derived figure, not a published index, and the CSO Household Budget Survey cross-check noted above implies a somewhat higher number, so treat 136 as a central estimate with roughly a 130 to 165 range. — accessed September 4, 2026
  41. National Driver Licence Service, exchange my foreign driving licence. List of recognised states does not include the United States; non-exchange licence holders must sit the theory test, hold a learner permit, complete Essential Driver Training (six lessons for full foreign licence holders) and pass the driving test. — accessed September 4, 2026

Nathan Brooks · Editor, Your New Country

Nathan builds and maintains the Your New Country dataset, reconciling figures from the OECD, Eurostat, the World Bank and national statistics offices, and reading each country’s immigration and tax guidance at the source before it is published.

  • Reads each country’s immigration, tax and health guidance in the original official source rather than in secondary coverage
  • Reconciles every published figure against OECD, Eurostat, World Bank and national statistics releases on a quarterly cycle
  • Publishes the derivation and the access date beside each number, and marks estimates as estimates

Data reviewed September 4, 2026 · source confidence: medium ·methodology

Your New Country publishes reference information, not tax advice. Tax positions are fact-specific and the penalties for getting a cross-border position wrong are heavier than the fees for getting it checked. Before you file, take advice from an accountant who works both systems, and confirm everything against Ireland's tax authority and the IRS, which administers the US rules described here.

Keep going on Ireland

Cost of livingCategory-by-category price levels, rent and a worked monthly budget.Visas & residencyEvery route a US citizen can actually use, with costs and official links.HealthcareHow the system works, what foreigners can access, what cover costs.US vs IrelandEvery figure on this site, side by side against the US baseline.

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