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IRELAND HAS MADE mistakes in putting together its tax system in the past – and the country needs to learn from those failures, Michael Noonan says.
But the finance minister also said the country had been unfairly “caught in the crossfire” of sniping between the European Union and US multinationals when it came to corporate tax avoidance.
Noonan today told a tax conference, put on by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) and KPMG, that it was “no coincidence” most European Commission state-aid investigations – like the outstanding probe into Ireland’s claimed “sweetheart” deal with Apple - had been targeted at American companies.
“It is not right or fair in my view that only US companies should be targeted in the international debate on the appropriateness of global tax laws,” he said.
Mistakes, we’ve made a few
He said Ireland “like many others” had made mistakes in setting up its tax system, for example in property-related breaks which were “allowed to continue for too long with no rationale behind their maintenance”.
“The lessons learned must also be born in mind when determining our international tax strategy,” he said.
The so-called Double Irish tax regime was never part of Ireland’s tax code, what’s more it was not a sustainable way to build a thriving foreign direct investment sector for the long-term.”
In this year’s Budget, Noonan announced he was closing the much-criticised loophole which allowed multinationals to shift their profits offshore by setting up Irish-registered companies with tax bases elsewhere.
He added that the Apple state-aid case against Ireland was “weak” and added that the country would use “every legal avenue open to defend our position” if the commission ruled against the government.
A level playing field needed
But he said the country welcomed the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) plan, designed to address multinationals’ international tax avoidance measures, as long as it created a level playing field for everyone.
“EPS must not be about advantaging big countries over small countries and, equally, it must not be used to single out US multinational entities,” he said.
“If BEPS took this course it would merely be playing to the gallery and not be focused on real tax reform.”
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The ‘who killed your granny’ budget
@John F doe: The “fix Britain after 14 years of the Tories” budget
@Anthony Curran: by killing off the elderly? I know you shinners have a low value on life but this is disgraceful
@John F doe:
A quick Google search will show you just what the tories thought of the elderly…Savage cuts to resources for vulnerable people..
I wonder will Ireland be loaning money to the U.K.? As the loaned money to us when we were in a very dire state but we still are unfortunately.
@Tommy: we should absolutely help our wonderful nearest and dearest if needs be, they did it for us
@John F doe: dearest?
@Tommy: Economics clearly isn’t your strong suit.
@John F doe: In fairness they provided jobs for the Irish for decades, and still do, not that we need them as much these days.
@Tommy: let’s go Tommy Robinson
Mad how the Torys can do whatever they like, recklessly destroy the economy BUT Labour oOOoooo ‘pure evil’… politics is truly pathetic
@Thesaltyurchin: the conservatives never launched an attack on the elderly
@John F doe: You’re absolutely dense.
@John F doe: Are you thick?. What age group do you think uses an underfunded NHS more than any other ?
@Ian: I agree
@John F doe: neither have Labour so what on earth are you talking about?
so she can take the blame when it will backfire
For all those ppl in ireland u say “the government can’t get any worse” of course it can get worse
The Budgies won’t be impressed with a tax hike.
Labour a bit like our own, pretend to be sympathetic and be the voice for the working class, yet when in power, o difficult decisions will have it be made. A conservative landslide is likely when they eventually put in a motion of no confidence against this travesty. Stammer the worst Labour PM since Ramsay MacDonald
@Alan: the Tories ran the country in to the ground for over a decade. That Labour would actually try and fix that by taxing the people that can afford it isn’t the “travesty” you think it is. The Tories are trying to paint this budget as crippling the working class but that’s, once again, is an utter lie.
Yep, how do you tax all the profits from State assets sold for a pittance to cronies and then offshored and shielded from view forever?
The once Great Britain is now little Britain a byproduct off Brexit.
What is this talk of Labour having promised not to raise taxes? Let’s be clear what they promised was not to raid Texas, and so far they have honoured that!
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