Capital Gains Tax Calculator Ireland

Budget 2027 CGT rate change

Budget 2027 reduced the standard Capital Gains Tax rate from 33% to 31% for standard disposals on or after 7 October 2026. Development land remains subject to 33%, and the earlier 33% standard rate remains relevant to disposals before the change.

The calculator now asks for the rate basis instead of silently applying one rate to every disposal. The €1,270 individual annual exemption remains part of the simplified calculation.

What this calculator is for

This calculator estimates Capital Gains Tax on a straightforward disposal by an individual, starting with sale proceeds, acquisition cost, allowable costs and losses, then applying the annual personal exemption and the standard CGT rate.

How to read the result

The most important distinction is between sale proceeds and the chargeable gain. CGT is not normally 31% or 33% of the amount you sell an asset for; it applies to the taxable gain after allowable deductions and reliefs.

Worked example

If an asset bought for €20,000 is sold for €30,000 and there are €1,000 of allowable acquisition/disposal costs, the starting gain is €9,000. After the €1,270 annual exemption, the simple taxable amount would be €7,730, giving €2,396.30 at the 31% standard rate applying to a standard disposal on or after 7 October 2026 before considering any other losses or reliefs.

Irish context

Budget 2027 reduced the standard CGT rate to 31% for standard disposals on or after 7 October 2026. Development land remains at 33%, while individuals continue to have an annual personal exemption of €1,270. Different rates and reliefs can apply to particular assets and circumstances.

What can change the answer

Allowable costs, carried-forward capital losses, enhancement expenditure, reliefs, market-value rules and the type of asset can all alter the liability. The timing of the disposal also affects payment deadlines.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not calculate CGT as sale price multiplied by the headline rate. Do not deduct ordinary running costs that are not allowable capital expenses. Do not assume losses can be used against every type of income. And do not forget that filing obligations can exist even when tax is low or nil.

Related Compound tools

Use the Investment Fee Impact Calculator to understand fee drag before tax, Net Worth Calculator for your balance sheet, and DIRT Calculator for deposit interest rather than capital gains.

Frequently asked questions

Is the €1,270 exemption per asset?

No. It is an annual exemption for the individual.

Can I deduct broker or legal fees?

Certain acquisition and disposal costs can be allowable; check Revenue guidance for the specific expense.

Does this cover Irish investment funds or ETFs?

Not reliably. Many funds can fall under different tax regimes.

Does it calculate payment deadlines?

No.

Basis, costs and losses deserve careful records

The purchase price is only part of the CGT basis. Revenue allows certain incidental costs of acquisition and disposal, and qualifying enhancement expenditure can also matter. In practice, old solicitor invoices, broker statements and records of capital improvements can become valuable years after the money was spent.

Capital losses also deserve proper tracking. An allowable loss can generally reduce chargeable gains subject to the tax rules, but losses are not interchangeable with ordinary income losses. Keep documentation even in years when no CGT is payable because the loss may matter later.

For investments, be especially careful about assuming every product is taxed under ordinary CGT. Irish-domiciled and many EU/OECD funds can fall under the investment-undertaking/offshore-fund regime instead, with different rates and deemed-disposal rules. A share sold directly may be a CGT asset while an apparently similar fund can have entirely different tax treatment.

If you are making a significant disposal, use the calculator to estimate scale, then reconcile the exact asset, cost basis, reliefs and payment date against Revenue guidance before filing.

Advanced mode: do not reuse the annual exemption

The €1,270 personal exemption is an annual exemption for an individual, not a fresh exemption for every asset sold. If another net chargeable gain has already used €500 of it in the same tax year, only €770 remains for the disposal being tested here.

Advanced mode lets you enter the part already used. Compound then applies entered allowable capital losses first and only the remaining annual exemption afterwards.

The extra results also separate losses used in this disposal from entered losses that remain unused, and show when the disposal itself produces a capital loss. A capital loss does not create a negative CGT bill, and the annual exemption cannot be used to create or increase a loss.

Separate the gain calculation from the tax-product question

Before using 31% or 33% as the answer, first ask whether the asset is actually taxed under the ordinary Irish CGT regime. Shares and many directly held assets can fall within CGT, but some investment funds, ETFs, life policies and other products can be subject to different tax regimes. A mathematically correct CGT calculation applied to the wrong tax regime is still the wrong answer.

The calculator therefore works best after you have identified that ordinary CGT treatment is appropriate for the disposal being modelled. If the asset structure is unusual, verify the treatment with Revenue or a qualified adviser before relying on the estimate.

Build the gain from records, not memory

For an ordinary disposal, start with sale proceeds and then reconstruct the allowable base cost from documentation. Revenue allows certain acquisition and disposal costs, and qualifying enhancement expenditure may also be relevant. Keep purchase contracts, broker statements, legal invoices and evidence of capital improvements because a future tax calculation is much stronger when every input can be supported.

Do not enter routine running costs merely because they relate to the asset. The question is whether the cost is allowable in calculating the capital gain under the relevant rules.

Losses and the annual exemption are different tools

The €1,270 personal annual exemption applies to an individual’s net chargeable gains for the year; it is not €1,270 for every disposal. Capital losses also have their own rules. Advanced mode is designed to stop a common modelling error: using the full exemption again on a second sale after it has already been partly or fully used.

A good year-end workflow is to list all disposals, calculate gains and allowable losses consistently, identify how much of the annual exemption remains, and then model the net CGT position. The calculator can help with an individual disposal, but a tax return is based on the taxpayer’s overall relevant position rather than a collection of isolated calculators.

Sensitivity: sale price, costs and reliefs

When considering whether to sell, test a range of plausible sale prices rather than one optimistic figure. The CGT number is based on the gain, not the full sale proceeds. That distinction matters for assets that have a high original cost.

Also keep reliefs outside the simple model unless you have verified eligibility. Reliefs can be valuable, but they often depend on factual conditions that a generic form cannot establish. The safest sequence is: calculate the unrelieved gain, verify the relief independently, then adjust the tax analysis.

Revenue states that the standard CGT rate is 33% for most gains and that individuals have a €1,270 annual personal exemption. See Revenue’s CGT calculation guidance. For broader long-term planning, the Investment Fee Calculator can show how costs affect compounding before any disposal tax is considered.

Method and limitations

The tool calculates sale proceeds minus purchase cost and entered allowable costs, subtracts entered losses and the €1,270 annual exemption, then applies the selected 31% or 33% rate to the remaining taxable gain. It does not model every relief, rate or product-specific tax regime.

Useful sources

• Revenue — How to calculate CGT
• Revenue — Capital Gains Tax