Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance

Taxation Agreements: Motion

1:50 pm

Photo of Brian HayesBrian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the significant improvement in recent years. As Deputy McGrath would be aware, these measures are not just an intellectual property or academic exercise. When one goes to third countries and speaks to Irish businesses, it makes a difference that these taxation agreements are in place because it gives them some certainty in trading with those countries.

To respond to the question on the key markets we have yet to crack in terms of the agreements, Brazil and Argentina are the two countries that stand out. To be blunt, it is not for the want of trying on our part. In making an agreement, it requires two people to come to an agreement. To respond to his second question, there is a three way dialogue, a 'tri-alogue' between officials from the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Finance and the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade who collectively work on this. In key markets such as Brazil, and the Deputy would know from participating last year in the discussion on the Finance Bill, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan brought forward measures to improve exporting to such countries. We are very keen to come to an agreement with Brazil. I think they are keen to come to an agreement with us but sometimes there are barriers to finalising an agreement. Frequently one reaches an agreement in principle but it takes some time for the agreement to transverse parliament as each different parliament has its own way of dealing with these issues. We accept that two key areas that have yet to come to the table and reach an agreement are Argentina and Brazil. We are all trying to break into these countries and build new markets outside the European Union.

The optimum agreement is the double taxation agreement, which has everything but a Tax Information Exchange Agreement, TIEA, is the first step towards a full double taxation agreement and is a stand alone measure. Crucially from the perspective of the Revenue Commissioners, it allows us to have an information exchange on tax liability on both sides. When we move to a full double taxation agreement, the TIEA is in place.

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