Every 8 years, Revenue treats an ETF or fund holding as sold and immediately reacquired at its current market value — a "chargeable event" that crystallises exit tax on the unrealised gain even though nothing was actually sold. This calculator runs a contribution schedule forward and shows exactly when each deemed disposal falls, what it costs, and what's left at the end.
Contributions compound monthly at your assumed return. At each 8-year mark before the end of your time horizon, the accumulated gain since the last chargeable event (or since the start) is taxed at the exit-tax rate — 38% from 1 January 2026, 41% before that — and the fund is treated as redeeming units to pay it, reducing the holding's value going forward. The cost basis resets after each event, so the same gain is never taxed twice, but the euros paid out early stop compounding for you.
For an Irish-domiciled fund, yes — the fund itself deducts and remits the exit tax on your behalf, redeeming enough units to cover it. For an offshore-domiciled but equivalent fund (most EU-domiciled UCITS ETFs bought through an Irish broker), the obligation is usually on you to self-assess and pay via your Form 11, which is easy to miss.
You pay exit tax at that point instead, on the gain since your last chargeable event (or purchase) — deemed disposal doesn't add extra tax on top of a real sale, it just moves some of the same liability earlier.
No — this is one of the sharpest differences from CGT. Losses under the exit-tax regime can only be offset against gains within the same regime in limited circumstances, and there's no equivalent of the CGT annual exemption at all, which is why the two regimes need to be compared, not conflated.
Figures are estimates for informational purposes only, based on the assumptions you enter, and are not tax advice. Consult a tax advisor or Revenue.ie before making financial decisions.