Business

Ireland to ‘break even at least’ from OECD tax reform

Seen & heard: Desmond critical of housing policy; Web Summit face off; and energy alert for Amazon

Paschal Donohoe’s decision to sign up for OECD tax reform could well benefit Irish exchequer, KPMG head of tax, Tom Wood says,

Sun Oct 10 2021 - 10:24

Ireland will break even at least from the Government decision to sign up to the OECD reform of global corporate taxation, and may even benefit over time, a leading tax adviser tells the Sunday Times. Increasing the tax rate to 15 per cent will net as much as €2 billion from the 10 largest corporation tax payers, KPMG's head of tax Tom Wood says, and up to €4 billion from the top 100 contributors. That will more than offset the €2 billion that Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe warns will be lost from the taxation of sales in other countries by Irish-based multinationals.

Financier Dermot Desmond has called the buying and leasing of social housing from private developers and investment funds a "misguided strategy" and a "criminal waste of money", the Business Post reports. In letters to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien, Mr Desmond said investment funds were "laughing at us" as Ireland paid a high price to keep the bill for social housing off our balance sheet to avoid breaching EU financial rules, by leasing homes off investment funds.

The battle between Web Summit founders Paddy Cosgrave and David Kelly will unfold in the Commercial Court on Monday, the Sunday Times writes, as relations between the two former school friends continue to sour over amid in a flurry of legal actions relating to an investment fund.

The Business Post also reports that Tánaiste Leo Varadkar warned Amazon earlier this year that the State's national grid operator, Eirgrid, could not guarantee additional capacity to fuel the needs of data centres. The caution is contained in briefing notes prepared for the Minister ahead of a meeting in March with Amazon Ireland boss, Mike Beary, who said the US company needed clarity on the grid capacity situation.

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A new State-backed offshore wind developer plans to invest up to €3 billion in up to five major projects, the Sunday Independent reports. The arrival of Inis Offshore Wind, backed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, is a boost for the renewables sector. It plans to develop one gigawatt of wind capacity – enough to power 800,000 homes – in two sites off the east coast, the paper says.

The paper also reports that the European Investment bank plans to deploy hundreds of millions of euro in additional finance for climate projects in Ireland over the coming years, with a new focus on lending to local authorities.

Investment fund Hines has acquired the final phase of Cairn Homes' Marianella development in Rathgar, the Sunday Times reports, adding that it is paying just over €60 million for the 107 build-to-rent homes.

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