AstraZeneca refuses to rule out move

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca today declined to rule out moving its tax base outside the UK, possibly to Ireland.

The company already employs over 80 people at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals (Ireland) Ltd mostly in marketing and related functions at its Dublin offices.

When asked this morning if the company was considering becoming tax resident in Ireland a company spokesman said "we haven't ruled anything in or anything out" and also said there was no timeline for a decision. 

He said the company would meet with senior British government officials "to make sure they understand the importance of the UK having a competitive tax regime".

Last week AstraZeneca reported a 3.7 per cent fall in first quarter net profits to $1.5 billion.

There is rising concern in the UK at the decision of a number of high-profile companies to become tax resident in the Republic.

The UK's third-largest pharmaceutical company Shire and publisher United Business Media have decided to relocate their headquarters to Ireland for tax reasons.

According to a report in today's Financial TimesWPP may also opt to relocate here due to the UK's complex corporate tax rules.

The moves have prompted the British Chancellor Alistair Darling to launch a review of the competitiveness of the UK's corporate tax system.

A number of companies are concerned at a proposal to change the tax treatment of UK companies with overseas subsidiaries to stop them reducing their bills by diverting profits to low tax jurisdictions.

Multinationals are to be invited to sit on a new working group to advise ministers on the UK tax system.