Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 43:

In page 40, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“18. The Minister shall, prior to Budget 2016, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the effective rate of tax charged to domestic businesses in this State and separately to multinational corporations, and analyse the impact of this Act with regards to lowering the effective tax rate or increasing it.”.

The amendment deals with the need for the Minister to prepare and lay before the Dáil a report on the effective rate of tax charged to domestic business in the State, and separately to multinational corporations, analysing the impact of the Act with regard to lowering the effective tax rate or increasing it. Again, that is something I have called on the Minister to do in previous years. It would provide transparency in what we are doing in terms of multinational tax and domestic business tax and the effective rate paid. A sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform has been examining the issue at length and it is clear that there are multiple ways to determine the effective tax rate using different models. One of the issues I and others have sought relates to taking the top 20 or 30 companies and looking at the effective tax rate they pay.
The Government has brought an end to the double Irish, despite the fact that it said on the record in the Dáil that it was not possible to do so. However, I welcome the fact that the legislation I published is what is contained within the Finance Bill. What I do not welcome is the fact that the Minister has allowed the double Irish to remain in place until 2020.
Other announcements are not contained within the Finance Bill, for example, on the patent or knowledge box, which is highly dubious. We know that if we are to follow suit in terms of what the UK has done in London that it would raise big concerns with the European Commission. It is not clear what type of patent or knowledge box the Government plans to introduce. It appears that while the Government closes down one loophole it is about to open one or two others. The amendment calls for transparency on the effective tax rates being paid by corporations and multinational companies in addition to domestic companies, and the potential impact of the Finance Bill on the rates for good or ill.