An Irish LTD can be a practical operating company for a direct-to-consumer store, Amazon seller, marketplace brand, wholesaler or subscription-box business. It creates a separate legal entity for contracts, inventory, staff and payment accounts. It does not, however, make every sale Irish for VAT or remove obligations in countries where stock and customers are located.
This ecommerce company formation guide connects the CRO process with the decisions an online seller must make about products, fulfilment, imports, VAT, consumer rights and banking. The right setup depends on the real supply chain, so obtain legal and tax advice for the actual countries and goods involved.
Map the stock before forming the company
Identify the supplier country, importer of record, warehouse locations, marketplaces, customer countries and returns destination. Company registration and VAT registration are different processes, and inventory movements can create obligations outside Ireland.
Is an Irish LTD suitable for an ecommerce seller?
A private company limited by shares can buy stock, enter fulfilment and marketplace agreements, employ people and invoice customers in its own name. The company may also make ownership and investment clearer than informal personal trading. Shareholder liability is generally limited to unpaid share capital, subject to personal guarantees, director conduct and other exceptions.
Compare the company with sole-trader operation using realistic accounting, insurance and compliance costs. A company is not automatically the cheapest structure, and incorporation does not guarantee VAT registration, a merchant account or marketplace approval. Review our LTD versus sole trader guide where the founder is based in Ireland.
Irish ecommerce company formation requirements
- An available company name and an LTD constitution.
- A physical registered office address in Ireland.
- At least one director and a company secretary, with separate people where the LTD has one director.
- An EEA-resident director or a statutory alternative such as a Section 137 bond for a new company.
- Accurate shareholders, shares and beneficial-owner information.
- PPSN or the applicable IPN identification route.
- A specific activity description for Form A1, such as online retail of identified product categories.
Irish law does not generally require Irish shareholders. A founder abroad can use the non-resident formation route, but should not confuse an Irish registered office with a warehouse, staffed office or tax establishment.
Decide who owns the brand and seller accounts
Before launch, decide whether the Irish company owns the trade mark, domain, website, inventory and marketplace account. Supplier invoices, product labels, merchant accounts, customer terms and sales invoices should consistently identify the correct seller. Transferring an existing store or account may require platform consent, new verification and tax work.
Do not use another person's payment or marketplace account while presenting the Irish company as seller. Inconsistent ownership and transaction records can cause onboarding delays, frozen settlements, poor accounting and customer confusion.
VAT depends on goods, stock and customer location
Domestic turnover thresholds are only one part of ecommerce VAT. The company must consider where goods are located when sold, who imports them, whether stock moves between EU countries, whether the buyer is a business or consumer and whether a marketplace is treated as a deemed supplier for a particular transaction.
Warehousing goods outside Ireland may create a VAT registration in that country before a domestic Irish threshold is relevant. Moving the company's own goods between Member States can also require records and reporting. Build a transaction map and obtain advice before enrolling in multi-country fulfilment.
Our new-company VAT number guide covers Irish registration evidence, while Revenue's VAT ecommerce guidance explains the special schemes and marketplace rules.
When the One Stop Shop may help
The Union One Stop Shop can simplify reporting of certain cross-border B2C supplies within the EU through one Member State. Revenue's ecommerce guidance describes a common EUR10,000 threshold covering qualifying intra-Community distance sales and TBE services for a supplier established in only one Member State, subject to the scheme conditions.
OSS does not replace every domestic VAT registration. Stock held in another Member State, local sales and transactions outside the scheme can still create separate obligations. Keep evidence of customer location, applicable rates and sales by country, and reconcile marketplace reports with accounts and VAT returns.
IOSS, imports and EORI
The Import One Stop Shop is an optional scheme for eligible B2C imports. Revenue states that it can apply where goods are outside the EU when sold, dispatched in consignments with intrinsic value not exceeding EUR150 and not subject to excise duties. It allows eligible import VAT to be charged at checkout and declared through a monthly IOSS return.
Customs rules changed on 1 July 2026. Revenue's current IOSS guidance should be checked before pricing low-value consignments. Sellers importing or exporting goods may also need an EORI number, customs classification, origin evidence and a clear importer-of-record arrangement. IOSS is not a substitute for product or customs compliance.
Amazon and other marketplace sellers
Marketplace deemed-supplier rules can make the platform responsible for collecting VAT on certain sales, but they do not remove the seller's wider obligations. The seller may still have stock movements, imports, local registrations, business-to-business sales, invoices, record retention and product-law responsibilities.
Review the marketplace agreement for account ownership, reserve balances, returns, fulfilment countries, insurance and verification. Never assume that an Irish CRO number guarantees approval. Platforms can request beneficial-owner identity, proof of address, bank statements, supplier invoices, VAT numbers and evidence connecting the company to its activity.
Consumer rights and website information
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission states that businesses selling products to consumers in Ireland must comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2022. Online sellers must give clear pre-contract information, let customers review terms, use an order control that clearly indicates an obligation to pay and avoid pre-ticked extras.
Consumers generally have a 14-day cancellation period for most online purchases, with exceptions and detailed refund and return rules. Read the CCPC's official selling-products guidance. Also assess product safety, labelling, environmental obligations, warranties, accessibility, privacy and sector-specific rules for the goods sold.
Banking, payments and evidence
Prepare the CRO certificate and constitution, ownership chart, director identification, product catalogue, supplier invoices, fulfilment agreement, website, sales forecast, customer countries and source-of-funds evidence. Banks and payment providers may ask about chargebacks, high-risk products, average order values and expected international flows.
Compare settlement timing, rolling reserves, refunds, chargeback fees, foreign-exchange costs, supported countries and regulatory protections. Keep more than one operational contingency where possible, but never conceal business activity to obtain approval. Read the business-account preparation guide before applying.
Ecommerce launch checklist
- Choose the products, suppliers, sales channels and intended seller.
- Map imports, stock locations, fulfilment, customers and returns.
- Confirm the company name, officers, shares, Irish address and identity route.
- File the LTD incorporation and complete RBO obligations.
- Assess Irish and foreign VAT, OSS, IOSS, EORI and customs requirements.
- Prepare supplier, fulfilment, marketplace and customer terms.
- Complete product, consumer, data-protection and insurance checks.
- Apply for banking and payments using consistent supporting evidence.
- Set up bookkeeping that reconciles gross sales, marketplace fees, refunds and VAT.
Start with the structure, then build the sales system
A clean formation gives the online business a legal foundation, but the supply chain determines much of the compliance. StartCompany.ie can prepare the Irish incorporation while specialist advisers address VAT, customs and product obligations. Compare company formation packages or tell us the founder and director countries to identify the correct formation route.