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Thursday, April 22, 2021
On Tuesday, Finance Minister of Ireland Paschal Donohoe criticised talks co-ordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for a global minimum corporate tax rate, arguing smaller countries like Ireland “need to be able to use tax policy as a legitimate lever to compensate for the real, material and persistent advantage enjoyed by larger countries”.
Speaking to virtual attendees at a virtual seminar about international tax, Donohoe said any deal must “accommodate Ireland’s 12.5% rate”. This 12.5% rate benefits large corporations including Apple, Google and Facebook which account for one in eight jobs in the country. According to CNBC, corporate tax receipts in Ireland totalled €11.8 billion in 2020, and the Department of Finance has projected, according to The Irish Times that figure increase from €11.6 billion in 2021 to €12.5 billion by 2025.
Donohoe also said countries should recognise Ireland’s use of low taxes as an incentive to attract jobs and investment, saying while he supported an agreement with “appropriate and acceptable tax competition”, it must be lower than the 21% proposed by the United States.
Donohoe stressed nations should recognise the low tax rates present in Ireland and other small countries, citing “advantages of scale, location, resources, industrial heritage” present in larger ones. Defending his own long-established rate, Donohoe said a 12.5% rate is “within the ambit of healthy tax competition” as a rate which “stimulate[s] investment, growth and innovation, which are core to Ireland’s industrial policy”. Current proposals would shrink Ireland’s corporate tax base by 20%, and tax receipts to be €2 billon lower than it would otherwise be in 2025.
Described ultimately by director of public policy at Chartered Accountants Ireland Brian Keegan as “not tax change, but political change”, the Irish government and the OECD disagree on when a consensus can be reached. Head of tax for the OECD Pascal Saint-Amans said “there is a new dynamic that is likely to bring us to a resolution”, and the US’ willingness to address expressed concerns simplifies an admittedly-complex blueprint. He argued the talks, aiming to reach consensus by mid-2021 and held between 139 countries, will see a deal before the October 2021 G20 summit.
A spokesperson for the Irish Department of Finance told CNBC on Monday “political level discussions on these issues have not yet taken place”.
The Guardian found many companies in Ireland paying less on revenues from other countries; Apple paid as little as 0.005% in 2014. A European Commission ruling in 2016 forced Apple to pay €13 billion in owed back taxes to the Government of Ireland on charges of state aid; it was struck down in July 2020 on the grounds “[t]he commission did not succeed in showing to the requisite legal standard that there was an advantage.”