merrion street

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D. has signed the OECD Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting on behalf of Ireland at the OECD’s headquarters in Paris today.
Ireland was among the 68 countries to sign the Multilateral Convention, which is designed to implement key OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures into existing bilateral tax treaties.
Ireland has 72 tax treaties in effect and the multilateral convention will enable Ireland to update the majority of these treaties to ensure they are BEPS compliant without the need for separate bilateral negotiations.
Commenting on the signing of the Multilateral Convention, the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D. said:
“I am delighted to be able to sign the OECD Multilateral Convention on behalf of Ireland. This places Ireland among the first cohort of countries to meet the new OECD standards on tax treaties. This Convention represents a very important step in the implementation of the OECD recommendations on global tax reform and tackling tax avoidance”.
“Tax treaties are an important component of the international tax framework and the global trading environment. This Convention will ensure that Ireland’s extensive network of tax treaties will continue to facilitate trade and investment and provide certainty to taxpayers”.

Notes for Editors
The OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project made a series recommendations for international tax changes to combat aggressive tax planning. Four of the BEPS reports make specific recommendations for changes that should be incorporated into bilateral tax treaties.
The multilateral convention provides a mechanism for countries to transpose these BEPS recommendations into their existing bilateral tax treaties. Some recommendations are considered to be “minimum standards” which countries have committed to, while others are recommended best practices that countries can choose to adopt. The multilateral convention therefore provides optionality for countries not to select all of the possible changes.
Ireland has 72 tax treaties in effect and the multilateral convention will enable Ireland to update the majority of these treaties to ensure they are BEPS compliant without the need for separate bilateral negotiations. In signing up to the multilateral convention, countries, including Ireland, have indicated their provisional approach to the options provided for in the multilateral convention. The OECD will publish these lists on their website following the signing ceremony.
A technical note outlining Ireland’s approach to the multilateral convention was published on the Department’s website on Friday and is available at:
http://www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Technical%20Briefing%20Note%20-%20MLI%20%28002%29.pdf
Further information on the Multilateral Convention is available on the OECD website at:
http://www.oecd.org/tax/treaties/multilateral-convention-to-implement-tax-treaty-related-measures-to-prevent-beps.htm