Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Revenue just applies the laws we set this House. Share buybacks have become a popular way for companies to drive up their share prices and enrich corporate executives and shareholders. Irish publicly-listed companies are on course to spend more than €1.9 billion buying back their own shares each year, including retail banks and large developers. However, share buybacks can often be at the expense of the company or, indeed, the broader economy. Money spent on share buybacks to benefit corporate executives and shareholders is money not spent to reduce prices for consumers, increase employee wages or invest in the company itself. If we look across the Atlantic, that is the reason the Biden Administration is introducing legislation to apply an excise tax on share buybacks. In practice, few and only small private companies perform share buybacks through stock transfer forms where the stamp duty applies and, therefore, this gap should be closed in legislation. I ask the Minister to consider closing this gap with an amendment at Report Stage of the Finance Bill.

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