Mr. Seamus Coffey:

It is a dance that will always continue between national tax authorities. With a lot of these companies, the problem is not that they pay no tax. A lot of it is the question of where they pay the tax. Should it be paid where the original activity is? In the case of the US companies, that activity is the research and development that generates their intellectual property, that is, the brands and reputation. Alternatively, should it be taxed where the customers are? Traditionally, corporation tax has been paid where the activity is. The US is not collecting a lot of that tax, so other countries wonder if they can collect it. The companies themselves are paying significant amounts of tax. The issue is around where it is being paid.