What is it about Americans and Ireland right now? Hollywood actors can’t get enough – Olivia Wilde extols summers at her family’s Waterford home, Matthew Broderick loves his bolt-hole in Donegal, Rosie O’Donnell describes Ireland as “my refuge and my salvation”.
With reviews like this, it’s no wonder our stock is up. Nearly 10,000 Americans moved here last year, up from 4,900 in 2024, according to Central Statistics Office data.
The number of those seeking Irish citizenship has surged, too. A record 18,910 US applicants sought citizenship here in 2025 through having a parent or grandparent born here. That’s more than double the 7,726 US citizens who sought an Irish passport in 2023.
“We are seeing the number increasing dramatically,” says Jason Smith, cofounder and chief of financial intelligence at GlobalWealth360, which advises professionals on international mobility.
Olivia Wilde: ‘My family is all in Ireland right now. We still have the same house’
Not everyone has Hollywood-grade resources, so if you are relocating from the US, it pays to understand the financial implications.
Housing
US citizen Chelsea Lennon moved from San Diego, California, a year ago. Her husband is Irish.
“He wanted to move home for years. We were waiting for the right time and then just things politically, we were not happy with where everything was going, so it was, let’s go,” says Lennon.
Rents here are comparable to California, an expensive state. Selling their US home, they eschewed pricey Dublin for Waterford where they live mortgage-free.
“That’s a huge financial relief,” says Lennon.
Their US mortgage “wasn’t huge”, but an annual property tax of $8,000 (€6,900) was “through the roof”, she says.
“When I saw the property tax here, I was in disbelief.”
The annual charges here range from €95 to €3,110 for homes valued at about €2 million.
Selling their US home took three weeks. Buying a home here typically takes three to six months. As cash buyers, they concluded in eight weeks.
No water bills here was a surprise too. She describes the electricity bill in her C1 energy-rated house as “probably half of what you would pay in the US”.
Many of those relocating here retain their US home, at least at first. Some will rent it out.
Rental income from property is usually taxed in the country where the property is located. But the rent may also be subject to tax in your country of residence, depending on your circumstances.
The US-Ireland Double Tax Agreement prevents you from paying tax twice on the same income – it eliminates double taxation by allowing you to claim credits for taxes paid in one country against taxes due in the other.
Under the treaty, you can’t be “domiciled” in two places.
Your domicile is broadly the country where you intend to remain or return permanently. Residency typically refers to the country where you spend most of your time and have significant personal and professional ties.
The US-Ireland treaty, however, does not apply to state and local taxes – so a US person’s exposure to these needs to be considered.
We are moving home from America. Could a long house-hunting trip make us tax residents?
“People can think, my US money and assets are only taxed in the US. My Irish income will be taxed in Ireland and never the two shall meet – but it’s almost never that simple,” say Jason Smith of GlobalWealth360.
“If your state in the US charges a local state income tax, that’s probably going to lead them to declare you an ongoing resident, even if you are going to be tax-resident in Ireland,” he says.
“So now you are double-taxed – at the state level in the US and in Ireland.”
Those moving can overly rely on the treaty, says Smith.
“They say, whatever the higher tax rate, I’ll pay it so that I don’t have double taxation … but those tax credits under the treaty may not be available at a local level, and not many people realise that,” he says.
Those taxes can add up.
Some metropolitan areas, such as New York City for example, also charge a local city income tax.
“A higher earner there might be looking at approximately 7 per cent tax at a state level, and you might be looking at another 4 per cent at a city level, so that’s an 11 per cent combined tax rate,” says Smith.
Most US citizens will be Irish tax-resident, but non-domiciled here – so they may only have to pay Irish tax on foreign rental income brought or “remitted” into Ireland – more on this later.
But if they are Irish tax resident and are also domiciled in Ireland, they will pay Irish tax on the rental income from the US property,
New arrivals who plan to stay and want to buy a home here may face some obstacles too.
Stamp 1 and Stamp 1G visa-holders may face a limited pool of lenders that require periods of residency of at least three to six months.
Stamp 4 holders will have an easier time and can access Government Help-to-Buy and the First Home schemes.
Filing obligations
A US citizen who becomes tax-resident in Ireland will be subject to both Irish and US tax on income and gains and will be obliged to file annual tax returns in both places.
Where a US citizen retains their domicile in a US state, rather than acquiring an Irish domicile, they can avail of the “remittance” basis of taxation for Irish tax purposes.
This means they are only taxed on non-Irish source income and gains they bring, or “remit” into Ireland.
This can provide significant tax advantages for those with foreign income and investments.
To make your tax strategy as efficient as possible, Smith advises those moving here to do some pre-planning, quantifying what they will need to live while resident here – rent, mortgage, health insurance, travel, car groceries.
“The most efficient way to pay for that will be from what we call ”clean capital” – so money you earned or received before you moved here, and brought into Ireland before you became tax-resident,” says Smith.
This specific transfer of money will not be subject to Irish income tax or capital gains tax.
“One of the best things you can do is have enough money, say for five years, to live on here before you move – if you keep that structured, you can live on that, or use it to supplement your employment income, without causing tax on it,” he says.
Investments
Americans moving here may have a retirement or pension account, a personal brokerage account or a “529″ college savings account.
“They often assume because of the remittance basis of taxation in Ireland, that if they don’t bring that money over here, or don’t sell the fund, they don’t have to declare it on their Irish income tax return or pay taxes on it,” says Smith.
“But Ireland has complex rules around offshore funds like mutual funds, that might cause an American expatriate to have to pay Irish income tax on gains inside of the portfolio in the US.”
Even if they don’t have gains year to year, they might, after a certain amount of time, have a “deemed sale” or “deemed disposal” and this could lead to tax.
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Deemed disposal is a tax rule that treats an investment fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) as though you sold it on its eighth anniversary, even if you did not actually sell it.
“If you don’t pay the tax in the US, but you do in Ireland, there might not be any tax credits to deduct against it,” says Smith.
“This might feel like double taxation, or it might feel like being taxed on phantom income that you didn’t actually get.
“As part of your pre-move, you need to look at all of your investments and make sure you are not going to have any nasty tax surprises,” he says.
Healthcare
Americans can find it hard to get their heads around healthcare in Ireland, says Smith.
They can underestimate the public system, and also they might not realise private health insurance here costs substantially less.
“Some assume public healthcare here might as well be nothing,” he says.
“My experience is that if you have an urgent issue, it’s always going to be prioritised and you are generally going to get treatment.”
Adults opting for private health insurance pay an average premium of €1,960 a year, according to Health Insurance Authority figures.
In the US, private health insurance for a family can come in at about $4,000 a month, says Smith.
Insurance plans here provide greater reimbursement too, he says. US families might have to pay medical costs of $7,500 before getting a cent. Many never hit their deductible.
Registering with a doctor in Ireland took six months, says Chelsea Lennon. Her experience reflects the shortage of general practitioners.
Maternity rights here are significantly different.
Those employed and pregnant have a day-one right to 26 weeks’ maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks’ unpaid maternity leave. State-paid maternity benefit is €299 per week, subject to social insurance contributions.
“You don’t get any kind of payment in the US. You can’t lose your job for taking time off … but you feel like you have to go straight back,” says Lennon.
Estate planning
Inheritance tax in Ireland differs significantly to the US. The tax there is levied on the estate, not the beneficiary. Also the exemption at a federal level is $15 million per person, says Smith.
“People are not even thinking about estate taxes for their kids because their whole estate is well under that amount,” says Smith.
The tax in Ireland levied on the beneficiary, and the €400,000 per child exemption is much lower.
“Even if you are not going to be domiciled in Ireland, or bring all your money here – if you are going to have more than €400,000 of equity in a house or any other assets here, you need to have an estate plan,” says Smith.
Parents of younger children should name guardians.
In the case of a sudden or unexpected death, it’s important to have nominated who is taking care of the kids immediately, says Smith.
“You can have all the money in the world, but you don’t want your kids going into protective custody while someone gets flown in from the US and has to navigate the Irish probate system. That would be a nightmare.”
Experience
After a year in Ireland, Lennon has a few other observations for those following in her footsteps – she records them in her Instagram account, @fromchaostocozy_.
A US driving licence can’t be swapped for an Irish one. Those relocating must take a theory test and six driving lessons.
“I feel, with fewer lessons, I would have been good, it’s not fun. You have to pay for all the lessons again and I’ve been driving since I was 15,” says Lennon.
She’s swapped bulk-buying at Costco for smaller, more regular shopping trips.
“There is such a high quality in the food here – the meat, dairy, produce, it feels like it’s so much better,” says Lennon. She misses fresh salsa, though.
In the US, she was a business owner, selling up before moving here. She now works part-time in a remote job.
“I can work from home, around my daughter’s school schedule, so there is a lot more balance than I’m used to with just working non-stop,” says Lennon.
“There is no standard annual leave like there is here, and especially if you are a part-time employee, you would never have any kind of benefits that are just standard here.”
Her daughter is in primary school. “She loves it. Just to see her growth and how much she is thriving here, I feel like we should have done it sooner.”