What Irish leavers should keep: records and Revenue proof
What should Irish leavers keep for Revenue?
Keep four things: a day log, proof you left, proof of what you earn and where, and records of any asset you sell. Start the file before you fly, not when a query arrives.
The reason is the tail. Irish residency is day-count based, but ordinary residence, which you pick up after three consecutive resident years, only ends after three consecutive non-resident years. Revenue can look back across that whole period, and the burden of showing your position sits with you.
What records prove how many days I spent in Ireland?
The core test is 183 days in a tax year, or the 280-day look-back combining the current and preceding year (which does not apply if either year had 30 days or fewer in Ireland). Both rest on one thing: an accurate count.
Keep:
- Flight confirmations and boarding passes, in and out, for every trip
- Ferry, rail or hotel bookings if you travelled any other way
- Passport pages and any airline account history
- A running log that you write as you go, not rebuild afterwards
The visits home are where people slip. A week at Christmas, a wedding, a GAA weekend, a funeral. Each one counts, and each one is forgotten by the time a year has passed.
For the log itself, RezTally, our own app, records the country you are in each day and keeps a sealed, dated log you can export. It is not on the App Store yet. A spreadsheet works too if you keep it daily.
You can sense-check your numbers with the residency and three-year tail calculator.
What proves I actually left Ireland?
Days are only part of it. Ties count too, so build a picture of a life that moved.
| Record | What it shows |
|---|---|
| P45 and final payslips | Irish employment ended, and when |
| UAE residence visa and Emirates ID | Legal residence in the UAE (see u.ae) |
| Tenancy or title deed in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or elsewhere | Where you live |
| UAE employment contract or trade licence | Where you work |
| Utility bills and bank statements | Settled, ongoing presence |
| School enrolment for children | Family base |
If you kept a house in Ireland, keep the paperwork on it too, including whether it was let, empty or used by family. Revenue will read an unexplained retained home as a tie.
Do I need a UAE tax residency certificate?
Possibly. Ireland and the UAE have a double taxation agreement, and a certificate from the UAE authorities is the usual way to show you are resident there when you rely on it. The Federal Tax Authority publishes the process at tax.gov.ae.
It is useful, but it does not switch off Irish tax by itself. It sits alongside the day count, not above it.
What should I keep if I sell shares, a business or property?
Keep everything that fixes the gain: purchase records, valuations, share agreements, completion statements and the dates of each step. Irish CGT is 31% on most gains for disposals from 7 October 2026, down from 33%, with development land staying at 33% (Citizens Information). Irish land and buildings stay in the net even once you are non-resident.
Timing matters more than most people expect, so get the order of events checked before you sign. That is a conversation for Irish-qualified advice.
What records matter if I run a UAE company from Dubai?
Keep the licence, share register, board minutes and any evidence of where decisions are actually made and where you do the work. If you stay in Ireland for part of the year while running it, the Irish angle needs flagging early. A freezone licence in DMCC, IFZA or RAKEZ does not decide your personal Irish position.
Also keep payroll and dividend records. During the tail, some worldwide income can stay inside the Irish net, with an exception for employment or trade income exercised wholly abroad. Whether that exception covers your income depends on the facts, and those facts live in your paperwork.
What mistakes do Irish leavers make with records?
- Starting the log after arrival, not from the last day in Ireland
- Leaving out short trips home
- Relying on memory or phone location history
- Throwing away the P45 and Irish bank statements
- Treating the Emirates ID as proof of non-residence
- Stopping records when the first non-resident year ends, rather than at the end of the tail
How do I put this together properly?
Pull the departure paperwork together before your last month in Ireland, then keep adding to it. To see how your own numbers land, try Ireland vs Dubai take-home pay for the income side. If you’d like a clear read on where you would stand, our Irish and UAE tax team can set the file up with you alongside an Irish-qualified adviser. Official background is on revenue.ie.
Questions people ask
What records do I need to prove I left Ireland for tax purposes?
A dated log of your days in and out of Ireland backed by travel documents, your P45 and employment end papers, your UAE residence visa and Emirates ID, and proof of where you live and work in the UAE. Add records of any Irish home you kept. Together these show both the day count and the wider picture.
How long should I keep records after leaving Ireland?
Treat the three-year ordinary residence tail as the minimum, then keep them for a good while after it ends. Exact retention periods depend on your circumstances and any Irish disposals or filings involved, so ask an Irish-qualified adviser for the figure that applies to you.
What is the 280 day rule in Ireland and what evidence does it need?
You are Irish tax resident if you spend 280 days or more in Ireland across the current and preceding tax year combined. It does not apply if either of those years had 30 days or fewer in Ireland. The evidence is simply an accurate day count for both years, with travel records behind it.
Do I need to tell Revenue that I am leaving Ireland?
Yes, you should deal with Revenue properly in the year you leave, including how split-year relief applies to employment income. The exact forms and timing depend on your income sources, so take Irish-qualified advice before you go rather than after.
Can I rely on my phone's location history as proof of my days?
Not on its own. Location history can be incomplete, switched off or deleted, and it was never designed as evidence. Use it as a cross-check against boarding passes, bookings and a log you keep as you go.