Ireland ranks high on tax list

Ireland has been ranked as the easiest country in Europe to pay business taxes for the third year running, according to a new study.

The Paying Taxes 2010 report, which was compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the World Bank and IFC, covers 183 countries and looks at all taxes paid by businesses.

As well as corporate income tax, the study also covers social contributions and labour taxes paid by the employer, property taxes, property transfer taxes, dividend tax, capital gains tax, financial transactions tax, waste collection taxes, and vehicle and road taxes.

The report reveals that in addition to being the easiest country in Europe to deal with business taxes, Ireland is ranked in sixth place in the overall global rankings behind the Maldives, Qatar, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Ireland was ranked second in Europe for the time it takes to comply with tax rules at just 76 hours, compared to an EU average time of 232 hours.

According to the report, the time to comply with tax requirements ranges from 212 hours a year on average in OECD high-income economies to 638 in Latin America.

The study also reveals that Ireland has the second lowest overall business tax rate in Europe at 26.5 per cent. The lowest was recorded in Luxembourg at 21 per cent while the highest was in Italy where overall business taxes amount to 68 per cent.

The most difficult countries to pay business taxes in are Jamaica, Mauritania, the Gambia, Bolivia and Uzbekistan.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the factors which make it so easy to deal with taxes in Ireland is due to Revenue's proactive approach to online filing of returns.