THE DEPARTMENT OF Finance has strongly denied US President Donald Trump’s claims that Ireland is set to drop its corporation tax rate.
Trump is campaigning for a drop in America’s down tax rate of 35% to 20% and has been arguing that the US must do so in order to remain commercially competitive.
Yesterday, in a speech in the White House’s Rose Garden, Trump outlined his justification for such a move, including namechecking Ireland’s rate, and contradicting Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe’s Budget speech from last Tuesday.
“You look at other countries and what they’ve done, and we’re competing with other countries,” he said.
“When China is at 15% and I hear that Ireland is going to be reducing their corporation rates down to 8% from 12%.
You have other countries also reducing. We can’t be at 35% and think we’re going to remain competitive in terms of companies and jobs.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie today, the Department of Finance stated that “there are no proposals to change the corporation tax rate”.
The spokesperson referred to Donohoe’s recent Budget speech, in which he clarified that the tax rate of 12.5% (not 12%) is not changing:
Our position is clear. The 12.5% tax rate is, and will remain, a core part of our offering.
The Department also highlighted the fact that Donohoe confirmed the 12.5% tax rate in the recently published Update on Ireland’s International Tax Strategy.
“In Ireland, we have a stable tax regime. We have a competitive 12.5% tax rate, which is not going to change,” he said.
Reiterating the words of Donohoe, the Department for Finance said:
“Ireland’s corporation tax regime and 12.5% corporation tax rate will continue to be competitive while also offering long-term certainty to international business.
As always, we remain alert and responsive to any changes in the US or global tax environment.
This wasn’t the only thing that Trump falsely claimed yesterday.
He also suggested that former president Barack Obama fell short in his duty to meet with the families of military personnel killed in war.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” Trump said.
Pressed on that statement later, he said of Obama: “I was told that he didn’t often, and a lot of presidents don’t. They write letters.”
However, Obama’s official photographer, Pete Souza, tweeted that he photographed Obama “meeting with hundreds of wounded soldiers, and family members of those killed in action.” Others recalled his frequent visits with Gold Star families, and travels to Walter Reed, Dover and other venues with families of the dead and with the wounded.
All in all, it’s clear that both of Trump’s claims yesterday were, in fact, incorrect.
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