Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The one aspect on which I agree with the Minister is that assessing corporation tax rates is a more of an art than a science. There is plenty of artisty when it comes to covering up the reality of what firms are or are not paying in tax. I agree with the Minister that there are two separate issues involved. The first relates to the global profits of the multinational companies that are bestriding the globe. I do not accept that it is a false premise that we should assess their global profits. It seems that the problem lies in the unacceptable distinction between companies that are incorporated and taxable here and companies that are incorporated but not taxable here, despite the fact that they are all based here.

The Minister may have heard on radio today Professor Jim Stewart, to whom I spoke in the debate with the PwC spokesperson who tried to claim that these companies had real operations in countries such as Bermuda. Professor Stewart pointed out that they did not and that despite the fact that their address was Clarendon Street, Bermuda, they had no employees there and that all of their accounts were and the administration of their profits, sales and so on was being done in Dublin. However, because of a loophole in our system, they are not tax liable here and are managing to use Ireland as a place in which to avoid tax and we are allowing them to do so. This issue must be addressed.

Another issue concerns how the tax payable on profits of €70 billion, which becomes €40 billion following allowances and so on, amounts to only €4 billion. This raises concerns about the generous allowances which permit companies to write off huge amounts of tax. The EUROSTAT figures indicate that the implicit rates are far lower here than in any other country. I know that they all have different tax systems, but when one looks at the implicit rates, our implicit rates are far lower than anywhere else in Europe, however they are calculated. This issue needs to be addressed.

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