Finance | Corporate profits tax international pressures

To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which pressure from other countries for an increase in corporation profits tax here remains constant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY
I would like thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.  

From the outset, I would like to reaffirm that I remain fully committed to OECD Agreement.  My long-standing position is that the international tax system needs to keep pace with changes in how business is conducted globally, and the overriding premise of the OECD agreement, signed by over 135 countries, is that a global agreement is needed to properly address the taxation of large corporates in a globalised world.  The agreement achieved at the OECD is a fine balance that provides the certainty and stability required for economic growth while at the same time protecting the interests of small countries such as ours.  This agreement will come at a cost in terms of reduced tax receipts but I believe it is a price that is worth paying for the stability and certainty it will bring to the global international tax framework.

I am fully supportive of the EU efforts to agree the EU Minimum Tax Directive and I expect the file to be agreed in due course.  While full political agreement has not yet been achieved, I am fully supportive of the Czech Presidency’s efforts to resolve the political impasse and it remains my hope that the Directive will be agreed soon.  I think it is in everybody’s interest to have the EU Minimum Directive agreed, and implemented, on a consistent basis by all 27 Member States.

A public consultation on the technical implementation of the Directive in Ireland has already taken place. At a domestic level work is ongoing to prepare for transposition into Irish law before the end of 2023.  I am aware that this process is being replicated in many other jurisdictions globally, as we collectively prepare to implement the OECD Agreement.

The implementation timeframe for these new rules is ambitious. However, it is important that we work towards this agreed timetable on the assumption that countries globally will move together.