Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Digital service taxes are off the table at the moment within the EU because of the EU's expectation that the OECD agreement will be faithfully implemented by all those who have signed up to it. As long as there is evidence that is happening, I do not expect to see the issue of digital service taxes come back into credible consideration within the EU.

The second point the Senator raised is the reason we have done a lot of work in a number of Finance Bills on the whole issue of hybrids. A hybrid is a single entity that is taxed in different ways because the appearance of that entity in national tax codes varies. Because of one national tax code, a company could appear as a partnership but as something completely different in another tax jurisdiction because of how that country's tax code works. That is one of the reasons the whole issue of taxation with regard to hybrids received a lot of attention, for example, in last year's Finance Bill, if not the one before. These issues are best dealt with through the OECD because the best hope for consistency of treatment is through an organisation comprising as many countries as possible. That is why the OECD was successful with the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process. Issues of definition and what is being taxed are dealt with through those kinds of processes. It is a risk that I still expect to be there in the future.