Ireland will need to decide on the sensitive issue of its 12.5 per cent tax rate as the US may now set a “de facto”minimum tax rate for its companies operating here at a higher level, according to Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD tax director. He said that the US was likely to set a rate above Ireland’s 12.5 per cent rate for its new global minimum on overseas earnings (the so-called GILTI rate), though it might not be as high as the 21 per cent rate proposed by the Biden administration. Ireland had profited from tax from these companies in recent years, he said, but “you need to stabilise the international tax system – the winner cannot take it all”. Mr Saint-Amans has previously criticised the extension of the controversial double Irish tax relief up to 2020 for companies already using it. “ Ireland is not a tax haven, it is an investment hub,” he said, and was a key player in the OECD talks for this reason.

Source: The Irish Times April 17, 2021 04:00 UTC