Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Revenue Commissioners to the meeting. I commend our guests. Through business and in one form or another, I deal with Revenue, on and off, relatively regularly. Particularly during the pandemic when there was a shotgun effect to the need to deal with the pandemic unemployment payment and other immediate payments, we found that when different tax categories needed to be clarified and whatever else was required, it was not straightforward but Revenue was amenable, exceptionally helpful and easy to get on the phone. I must say that. It is one of the arms of the State. Perhaps some people are unhappy about the way Revenue works, but it certainly works.

Revenue's online systems are accessible and good. PAYE workers can enter their details on any of the payroll systems and be told what they will get and what they will not get. All of that is fed out automatically. It is incredible how the system is tied in with Revenue at present.

I have a bugbear, which is the result of being out and about and listening to different guys. Vehicle registration tax, VRT, seems to be an exceptionally complicated system. I am surprised that when Revenue has so many other things streamlined, there is no easier way to deal with the importation of vehicles and VRT. Every guy I know from that line of business talks to someone different and hears different answers at different times. That seems to be complicated and I cannot see why there is not a way to streamline it.

More important to Ireland at present, and I see it is in the headlines again today, is corporation tax. Mr. Cody said Revenue has not yet run the figures on the potential effect of a change in our corporation tax, which is coming through pillar 1 and pillar 2. The starting point will be 15% and it may be higher than that. I am curious as to what would happen if EU members were to advocate for a minimum corporation tax of higher than 15% in the future. I am sure Revenue has figures built in to assess the change as we move from 12.5% to 15%, what that will look like and its likely effect. Pillar 1 will tell us that many of these companies are going to pay at source and whatever else. I know it is a variable that is hard to guesstimate. However, Mr. Cody might look into a crystal ball and tell us where he thinks this is going to go. As the figures show, the amount of corporation tax we are getting is staggering. Our country is going to be a very different place when, because of the change in pillar 1, some of that money is not going to come to us. What foresight has Mr. Cody in that regard? Will he share his thoughts as to what could happen in any particular scenario? He can paint whatever picture he wants. Will he give us a feel or flavour of what to expect?

Has Revenue engaged with any multinationals about imminent changes in corporation tax and that type of thing? We know that approximately ten companies are providing 85% of the corporation tax, or whatever the correct statistics are. I am curious on those points.