Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide full details of the information given by his Department and the Revenue Commissioners to the European Commission as part of the information gathering exercise undertaken by the Commission since September 2013 in respect of the operation of Ireland's corporation tax regime in the case of certain multinational companies; if Ireland has concluded any specific deal with multinational companies operating here pertaining to the application of our corporation tax system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25106/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have cooperated fully with the European Commission enquiries, as required under EU law, providing comprehensive information to the Commission on administrative practice in relation to advance opinions, the types of issues on which opinions are provided, and details of specific opinions given. The details provided to the Commission by Revenue in respect of advance opinions are confidential taxpayer information and accordingly details of the information supplied to the Commission cannot be provided. The Deputy will also appreciate that the contents of the confidential correspondence with the Commission may, in the event of an unfavourable decision at a future date by the Commission on foot of the State Aid investigation announced yesterday, become the subject of litigation between Ireland and the Commission.

The Commission has been advised that Revenue advance opinions are non-binding and seek to clarify the tax treatment of proposed transactions or business activities under the applicable legislation, so that companies can file a correct tax return and comply fully with their tax obligations.

It is normal Revenue practice to provide an advance opinion on the application of tax legislation in circumstances where there might otherwise be uncertainty and the taxpayer requires clarification of the matter. As stated above, Revenue opinions are designed to provide clarity in relation to the applicable tax rules so that taxpayers can file a correct tax return and comply fully with their tax obligations. Advance opinions set out the correct application of the law as applied to specific transactions or activities. They do not provide any 'special deal' or special treatment.

As I have outlined on numerous occasions, Ireland does not do deals with multinational companies on corporate tax. Ireland's corporation tax system is statute-based and Revenue has no authority to do deals, to which the Deputy refers, with multinationals or any other taxpayers. In providing advance opinions as outlined above, Revenue has not done any deals or granted any special or favourable treatments.

The European Commission announced yesterday that it will open formal State Aid investigations in a number of Member States as part of its on-going wider enquiries in relation to tax rulings and patent box regimes in a number of member states. In the case of Ireland, our understanding of the particulars of this case is that the Commission is focussing on advance opinions, provided a number of years ago in respect of the Irish operations of one company, which address the calculation of the taxable base of profits for those Irish operations. I am confident that there is no state aid rule breach in this case and we will defend all aspects vigorously.  However, we understand that the European Commission has a responsibility to investigate potential breaches of state aid rules and, accordingly, we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that they have the full information they require.

At present the Commission is not saying that there is state aid, merely that they are formally examining this case. Their examination is not about Ireland's corporation tax rate or the Irish corporate tax system. The enquiry relates to the application of the rules in one particular case.

When it completes its investigation, the Commission will publicly announce its decision. In the event of an unfavourable decision, it will be open to Ireland to launch a legal challenge in the European courts.

I am very confident that we will successfully defend our position. Ireland does not have a statutorily-binding tax ruling system.  As stated above, advance opinions do no more than set out the correct application of the law as applied to specific transactions or activities. Advance opinions do not provide special treatment. There was no special deal in this or any other case. As there was no special treatment, we do not believe that there was any state aid. We will be providing a detailed, technical legal rebuttal of the Commission's concerns and, if necessary, will defend our position in the European Courts.