Hi Mac,
Our plan is based on raising capital against existing property in ROI, then investing this monies in a 'special purpose' company. This Irish company will own a subsidiary company in another EU country and will make any invetments through the subsidiary.
No income will be repatriated to the Irish company for the duration of the investment, which will mean no income tax liability in Ireland. The foreign subsidiary will initially buy some property for cash and then hopefully over time it will use a combination of income and borrowing to finance further investments. After, say, 10 years both companies will be liquidated and we will only be liable to capital gains tax (hopefully at 20%), rather than income tax (at 42%+ levies) on the profits!. Obviously the downside is that the initial capital will have to be financed from existing sources
That is the theory anyway, I agree with Rainy Day that we need professional advice, I just want to know as much as I can before I get it!
Thanks for all the responses!