Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama has hit out at American companies that “magically become Irish” to avoid American taxes.
Speaking to US News station CNBC, Obama made a trenchant criticism of the “inversion” system, which American companies use more and more. He said that such companies were using “unpatriotic tax loopholes” and accused them of renouncing their US citizenship.
“If you are basically still an American company but you simply change your mailing address in order to avoid paying taxes then you are really not doing right by the country and its people,
“What we are trying to do is to say that if you simply acquire a small company in Ireland or some other country to take advantage of the low tax rate and you start saying, ‘we are now magically an Irish company’, despite the fact that you might have only 100 employees there and you have got 10,000 employees in the United States, you are just gaming the system. You are an American company.”
He went on to call US multinationals who take part in the practice of registering in Ireland to avoid US taxes “corporate deserters” and said that because citizens don’t choose their tax rates, neither should companies.
Speaking after the interview to a crowd in Los Angeles, Obama said companies were either American or weren’t.
“You shouldn’t get to call yourself an American company only when you want a handout from American taxpayers.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I would love to see Scotland get their independence but unfortunately I think they will bottle it again.
@Pat Casey: maybe not, it’s a quick route back to the EU and all the benefits that will bring.
@John Mulligan: We can only hope.
This could turn out like Catalonia, Scotland goes ahead with the referendum, wins the vote, declares independence, Boris declares it illegal and charges Nicola with sedition. One for Netflix :-)
@John Mulligan: be interesting to see a hard border on Hadrian’s wall. Custom checks to get from England to the Scottish ferry to Northern Ireland. It is interesting to consider how an EU border would work between England and Scotland. Maybe they look for an Northern Ireland type of Protocol. Interesting times. But I understand the EU have not agreed a quick Scottish re-entry into the EU
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: interesting indeed, but I think the EU have agreed to a quick re-entry…if they do break from England… the smaller “UK” will be very isolated indeed.
@Pat Casey: The most interesting thing about that was not what Sturgeon said, but what the Torries and Labour said in response. The Empire strikes back telling Scotland to get back into its box and not trying to stand alone or decide its own future.
Starmer and Labour are every bit the unionist and little Englanders as the Tories. Well done Scotland – you’re day is coming!
@Ronan Skelly: Not true there is no quick route back to joining the EU
@Robert Preston: it might not be quick but its a route
Really Scott. Scottish North Sea oil/gas was the UK cash Cow for years..
Now the londongrad money is drying up,Brexit is hitting and a government of ineptitude down south means they would almost certainly be better off independent…
@David cotter: the problem is the Scottish are not capable of running the place – they are too dependent on the English. They will not vote for it in any case as they too afraid to let go of the apron strings.
It’s not like Scotland didn’t vote on this recently. It was put to a vote and it was defeated.
I am all for democracy and independence, but you can’t ask for a vote a couple of years later because the first few results didn’t suit you. Something so big as indépendance can’t just be voted on in a whim every couple of years. Also I would say that something so big as independence, which has massive direct repercussions for generations to come, would need to pass with an overwhelming majority to ensure it is the full will of the people. Even with the Irish question, a simple 52% in favour, in my opinion, will not do. You need about 70%+.
@Ciaran: it was 7 years ago…..and brexit means they should be allowed another go
@Ciaran: what you say makes a lot of sense but a lot has changed too since the last referendum .The biggest issue is whether Scotland has the capacity in terms of economy etc to go it alone .They would get huge support from E.U. but it’s probably not viable and.anyway Billy Bunter says NO ,will take no chances ,nor will any other conservative who follows him .
@Ciaran: Understand that one of the main reasons the YES vote didn’t win was that they were told by the EU that membership wasn’t automatic and they would be out of the EU and need to apply. We then had Brexit where the Scotts voted to remain in the EU so the end result of Brexit was the same if the YES vote won.
Everything has changed since the last vote so they do have a right to revote on it – if the situation hadn’t changed, then you would be right that they shouldn’t be allowed to call for another vote.
The idea that it should be 70%+ is ridiculous, you are saying that 3 people’s opinion matters more than 7 people.
@Ciaran: i think that Brexit has changed the situation in a major way… and people in Scotland want to be part of the EU… Johnson as PM doesn’t help the voluntary union either
@Ciaran: They voted no on the basis that Cameron told them if they left the Union they would be out of Europe, look how that turned out, they were sold a pup by the brits, no surprises there.
@Pat Casey: — Apart from the Brexit result pushing the Scots toward another referendum, they were apparently promised the Earth if they voted No the last time. They did vote No and the promises didn’t materialise. Whatever the promises were, they must have been significant.
@Ciaran: Big difference Brexit.
@E.J. Murray: that’s really hard to believe that England would not keep their word……or break international law or stuff like that…. they always stick to agreements that they enter into…. I’m shocked!
@David cotter: she should have called it for 12th July, to get unionist support with a big bonfire!
@Ciaran: Are you feeling ok 70%+. You must be a unionist yourself. Are you saying so that if we have a border poll here in Ireland that only those who vote yes for Unity must reach over 70% – but those who want to remain in the UK need only receive 31%?
So Ciaran, do you want your meds now, or do you want to continue writing more comedy scripts?
@Ciaran: they’ve been taken out of the EU against their wishes. Good enough reason for a rerun.
@Joan Grennan: That’s not actually true. It’s more likely that England is a lot less viable without the resources that they currently take from Scotland.Ironically, Scotland is far more potentially viable as an independent country than Ireland, in terms of natural resources and the scale at which those are already developed. So, viability is non-issue. What’s more of a challenge is how much the media narrative drives down the level of self-confidence. That’s what won in the end in 2014, that and scare stories about pensions being cut and being locked out of the EU, ironically.
@Ciaran: the terms under which they voted have completely changed. They’re absolutely right to demand a second referendum. The UK government are scared stiff because they will have to assume all of the combined national debt in order to keep their seat on the security Council. Scots would walk away with a fresh start, debt free and the influence of having the UK nuclear submarine pens on their land.
I am from Scotland and would love to see them vote for independence. I know friends family last time very concerned about leaving EU then Brexit happened and would change their vote for independence.
Good for them! I hope it passes this time.. EU membership will swing it on favour of independence.
@Ronan Skelly: Sturgeon’s problem is that she also needs those on board opposed to EU membership to get the yes vote over the line, but while Scotland would probably need to be in the EU in order to prosper, she cannot argue for it. Worse, there’s the problem of potentially having a hard border with England, due to Westminster’s hardline Brexit stance. So while I would like for them to be independent, I think ultimately the status quo will prevail.
Good luck to our Celtic cousins.
They have a right to a new post Brexit referendum after being dragged out of the EU against the democratic will of the Scottish people.
Yawn. Print the legend. The reality is they stay.
And there endeth the empire…
@JG: The empire is finished no foreign lands to seize and the greedy eye of England is finished.
@JG: For the best. It’s moribund now.
@Daniel Roche: Keep up the Empire ended in the 50s
All well and good till the bill comes. If you can cover your end after the cash cow goes then it’s going to be a success. At least an independent vote isn’t filled with extreme opposite sides not parts of the UK on this island
Hon the jocks!
Can Ireland have one ?
This will be very interesting to watch. It’s likely Johnson will have been booted out of downing street by then which adds to the dynamics and could act as an assist for Sturgeon.
@Joe Bergin.: Boris told Nicola he will get Dominic Cummings to spearhead her Leave campaign for her!
I find it interesting that most of the comments are pro Scottish independence and fair enough, but do people realise that if it happened, it would significantly negatively impact the Irish economy and likely reduce our influence within the EU?
@Stephen Foster: how?
@Vlad Eire: I don’t see how it would, from what I’ve read it would quicken a United Ireland and damage the UK’s international standing, worse than what’s already been done by it leaving the EU. Russia would be the country most pleased as it would militarily diminish one of the two main powers in Europe, what if Scotland insisted that the Royal Navy remove it’s nuclear-armed submarines from their base at Faslane, at a stroke the 32% smaller UK would lose it’s ‘continually at sea’ nuclear deterrent, plus the loss of airbases at Lossiemouth and Leuchars would give the RAF a headache.
It would be great to see a not so great Great Britain!
The Ref may happen but the vote will be to stay in the union . Scotland has to meet certain conditions to even apply to join the E.U which it cant at this time and then even if fast tracked it would takes years sometimes up to 10 years .The EU will not want this bother especially after Brexit you only have to look at the northern Ireland protocol . Sturgeon should let it go as this will her downfall
They will bottle it again. They only want their freedom in the movies
have your say