Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The measures we have brought forward aim to make progress against some of the issues he raised. In particular, on the issue of evasion or aggressive tax planning opportunities, there are two aims of the changes we are making that are relevant to his concern. The first is that double taxation agreements provide for the exchange of information between countries and facilitate Revenue investigations. That exchange of information is vital in dealing with concerns tax authorities may have in regard to tax evasion. In this context, double taxation agreements try to create a legal environment in which further progress can be made on the issue to which the Deputy referred. They also prevent what is deemed to be treaty abuse. This involves putting in place measures, such as a principal purpose test, to deny treaty benefits where one of the main purposes of a transaction is to obtain those benefits. I refer to transactions that are put in place with the main aim of trying to utilise some of the benefits that would be available through double taxation agreements. Overall, there are positive developments that provide further tools for allowing tax authorities to deal with issues of aggressive tax planning and evasion.