Sir, – Oxfam's Tax Battles report, which published a list of countries designated as corporate tax havens this week, included Ireland because of huge levels of profit-shifting. Our report found that €93 billion worth of excess profits flow to and through Ireland. These are profits booked in Ireland that are beyond what you would expect based on the real economic activity of firms based here.
Despite this huge figure, Ireland still has no effective rules to prevent corporate tax avoidance through profit-shifting, aggressive tax-planning structures and sweetheart deals such as Apple’s.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, discussing the report in the Dáil, stated that the corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent was a factor in our rationale for naming Ireland (“Kenny denies claim that Ireland is a tax haven”, December 15th).
The rate wasn’t key or central to our assessment – this is about wider aspects of our corporate tax system. Oxfam recognises the important role this rate has played in our economic development over many years.
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Our Even It Up campaign on economic inequality is calling for an end to the tax avoidance mechanisms still allowed by Ireland that may have damaging implications for poor people in developing countries and have seriously damaged our international reputation.
There is no universally agreed definition of a tax haven. While the Government is making positive progress in some areas of our tax regime, we still have much room for improvement, such as public country-by-country tax reporting, so citizens understand where profits are made and where taxes are paid; and public listings of beneficial ownership, and publicly available information about tax rulings.
This would repair our reputation and set us up as a global leader in tax transparency.
Ultimately all governments must ensure that their tax arrangements are transparent and provide the resources to deliver the essential public services their citizens need – and are paying for. – Yours, etc,
JIM CLARKEN,
Oxfam Ireland,
Chief Executive,
Ringsend,
Dublin 4.