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08/06/2016
Govt Accused Of Enabling Tax Avoidance
The government has been accused of enabling "massive" tax avoidance by large corporations and the wealthiest in society, by Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy.
Minister Carthy, a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, made the accusation during a debate on tax avoidance in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
"My home state of Ireland has a reputation as an enabler of massive tax avoidance for large corporations and the wealthiest in society," Minister Carthy said.
"Unfortunately the perception is true. The Irish government recently stated it would phase out the notorious Double Irish technique. But companies like Google and Microsoft have until 2021 to restructure their tax avoidance techniques.
"The government has now introduced a so-called knowledge box – a tax rate of 6.25% for certain companies. We know this won't foster innovation – it's just another tax avoidance mechanism, another hand-out of millions to multinationals.
"All the while Irish and European authorities have pushed taxes and charges on ordinary families who are already struggling to cope. The loopholes in the Irish system have been designed to perfectly complement the loopholes in US tax law to benefit massive US corporations.
"We can see that the BEPS measures are not enough to deal with the scale of the problem and that an EU set of legislative measures isn't the answer. The response needs to be truly international."
(MH)
Minister Carthy, a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, made the accusation during a debate on tax avoidance in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
"My home state of Ireland has a reputation as an enabler of massive tax avoidance for large corporations and the wealthiest in society," Minister Carthy said.
"Unfortunately the perception is true. The Irish government recently stated it would phase out the notorious Double Irish technique. But companies like Google and Microsoft have until 2021 to restructure their tax avoidance techniques.
"The government has now introduced a so-called knowledge box – a tax rate of 6.25% for certain companies. We know this won't foster innovation – it's just another tax avoidance mechanism, another hand-out of millions to multinationals.
"All the while Irish and European authorities have pushed taxes and charges on ordinary families who are already struggling to cope. The loopholes in the Irish system have been designed to perfectly complement the loopholes in US tax law to benefit massive US corporations.
"We can see that the BEPS measures are not enough to deal with the scale of the problem and that an EU set of legislative measures isn't the answer. The response needs to be truly international."
(MH)
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