Finance & Irish taxes · Calculator companion · By K Imports
Irish Investment Account simulator: practical guide
This guide explains how to use the Count.ie irish investment account simulator. Compare the announced Irish Investment Account with an ETF exit-tax model and a CGT capital-growth asset over 5, 10 or 20 years. Follow the inputs, method and worked example below, then compare your own scenario.
Guide written .
Open the Irish Investment Account simulator calculatorWhat to prepare
- Find the relevant statement, payslip or transaction record rather than estimating from a bank balance.
- Identify the tax year, transaction date and whether each amount is gross, net, annual or monthly.
- Separate known facts from assumed rates and check eligibility against the linked official sources.
Understand the inputs
- First-year contribution (€)
- A fresh account, funded on 1 January 2028. This is the entire first-year contribution, not an existing portfolio transfer.
- Assumed annual capital growth (%)
- Hypothetical price growth, excluding dividends. The same smooth growth assumption applies to all paths; returns are not guaranteed.
- Comparison horizon
Options: 5 years; 10 years; 20 years.
- Ordinary investment tax assumptions
- 35% fund tax is announced; Revenue publishes 31% CGT from 7 October 2026. Both are held constant through the forecast. The second profile is a frozen historical comparison, not current rates.
Options: 2027 comparison: ETF 35% / CGT 31%; Pre-Budget 2026: ETF 38% / CGT 33%.
- Common annual fee assumption (%)Advanced
- Simplified asset-return drag applied to all paths gradually each year. Zero excludes costs. Not a provider quote, fee-deductibility calculation or model of tax from fee-funding sales.
- Extra Investment Account fee (%)Advanced
- Added to the common fee for the new account only, to test sensitivity to provider costs.
- Available final-year CGT exemption (€)Advanced
- The annual personal exemption available at the hypothetical final sale. Enter zero if used elsewhere. Not applied to ETFs.
The calculation method
Equal start-of-year contributions and smooth daily capital growth. Investment Account: annual 1% on positive average daily value above €50,000. Ordinary fund: separate eight-year deemed-disposal lots and final tax credit. CGT asset: final capital gain less one available annual exemption. Values shown after hypothetical liquidation at each checkpoint.
Worked example
Illustrative inputs and their result.
Example inputs
- First-year contribution (€)
- 12000
- Annual contribution from year 2 (€)
- 12000
- Assumed annual capital growth (%)
- 5
- Comparison horizon
- 20 years
- Ordinary investment tax assumptions
- 2027 comparison: ETF 35% / CGT 31%
- Common annual fee assumption (%)
- 0
- Extra Investment Account fee (%)
- 0
- Available final-year CGT exemption (€)
- 1270
Calculated example result
- Investment Account after tax
- €383,926.57
- ETF model after tax
- €347,769.25
- CGT asset after tax
- €362,269.10
How to interpret the result
Distinguish a tax saving, a tax bill, cash received and money remaining: they are not interchangeable. An estimate does not establish eligibility, filing compliance or when a refund will be paid.
Compare the same income or transaction under one changed assumption at a time. Keep a record of the year, date and assumptions so a change in the result can be explained.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not mix tax years or apply a newly announced measure to an earlier transaction.
- Avoid counting an allowance, credit, contribution or loss twice.
- Check exclusions and personal circumstances before relying on the headline result.
Assumptions and sources
Announcement simulator, not an available-account or enacted-law claim. Fresh account from 1 January 2028; no launch-year proration or existing transfers. Contribution cap €12,000 per year; rates frozen for 5/10/20-year scenarios. No dividend income, foreign withholding, personal loss offsets or inflation. Fees and tax-payment timing are stated modelling assumptions, not confirmed provider rules. All inputs stay local.
Rules checked . Baseline rules year: 2027. Reviewed scope: Department of Finance Budget 2027 pages 5/16 and minister speech: average daily account value, €50,000 threshold, 1% excess-value tax, €12,000 annual cap and proposed 1 July 2027 launch. Fund 35% is announced; Revenue's 7 October 2026 page publishes 31% CGT and €1,270 exemption. Account implementation and provider operations are not verified.. This does not verify every selectable year, date or Budget announcement profile.
Sources and further information
- Budget 2027 announced investment measures
- Tax Policy Changes, pages 5 and 16
- Minister's Budget 2027 speech: threshold example and planned launch
- Revenue ETF tax treatment and eight-year deemed disposal
- Revenue investment undertakings: eight-year events and tax credits, section 4.4
- Finance Act 2025 fund exit-tax rate changes
- Revenue CGT calculation and personal exemption
If your case falls outside this scope, use a more suitable calculator or contact us about an unclear method.