merrion street

Over the last 24 months the international rules for taxing multi-national companies have been the focus of many discussions across the globe. The G20 have acknowledged that global challenges require global action, and this is happening through the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Ireland is actively engaged in this process.

On Budget day in October 2013, the Minister for Finance published a new International Tax Strategy statement which sets out Ireland’s objectives and commitments in relation to these issues and can be viewed at: http://budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2014/Documents/Department%20of%20Finance%20International%20Tax%20Strategy%20Statement.pdf

At the same time, countries are increasingly competing for mobile foreign direct investment. As the Minister for Finance said in his Budget speech, Ireland will play fair, as we have always done, and play to win. In this regard, the competitiveness of Ireland’s overall corporate tax regime is evaluated on an on-going basis.

In the context of the on-going OECD BEPS process and mindful of the desire to remain competitive, the Minister for Finance now wishes to consider options for Ireland’s tax system to respond to a changing international tax environment.

Interested parties are now invited to submit their views on how Ireland’s domestic tax system might best respond to international tax changes.

The consultation will run for 8 weeks from 27th May 2014 until 22nd July 2014 and further details can be viewed in the consultation document which is available on the website at: http://www.finance.gov.ie/