Ireland is rolling out a new savings and investment program designed to coax its citizens off the sidelines of capital markets. Crypto, however, didn’t get an invitation.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris announced the Savings and Investment Account (SIA) scheme, which will offer tax-advantaged treatment on a curated list of traditional assets: shares, bonds, funds, ETFs, and insurance-based products. Crypto assets, derivatives, and interest-bearing cash deposits are all explicitly excluded from the program, which is set to launch in 2027.
A country sitting on cash
The rationale behind the SIA scheme is straightforward. Irish households are sitting on somewhere between €170 billion and €197 billion in bank deposits, a colossal pile of capital earning relatively little. Meanwhile, only 2.3% of Irish financial assets are held in direct listed equity and debt, compared to a 7.5% average across the EU.
The new accounts will feature a tax-free threshold, above which a low flat annual tax rate kicks in. That’s a significant improvement over the current regime, where capital gains are taxed at 33% and fund exit taxes run as high as 41%, though some cases see a reduced rate of 38%.
