The latest proposed tax inversion deal just got even bigger. U.S. bidder AbbVie hiked its offer for Dublin-based Shire PLC Sunday after four days of talks in a deal that could now reach $31.35 billion, underscoring what it sees as the benefits of a tie-up that will also give it… – Continue reading
Another day. Another inversion. This one, though, with a twist. On Tuesday evening, U.S.-based Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.SLXP -1.52% announced plans to merge with a unit of Cosmo Technologies Ltd.’s and take up residence in Ireland for tax purposes. What makes this different from a typical inversion deal is the fact… – Continue reading
On Friday, 27 June 2014, the Irish Revenue Commissioners (in conjunction with the Department of Finance) finalised the relevant Regulations with respect to FATCA. These Regulations will come into operation on 1 July 2014. As readers will be aware, the Irish and US Governments signed an intergovernmental agreement (“Irish IGA”)… – Continue reading
ANYONE with a second residence or holiday home in Co Donegal who has not paid the taxes due on it now have an outstanding bill of €4,220. This amount, accrued from 2009-2013, will rise however to a whopping €7,230 on September 1, 2014. Donegal County Council said it is “actively… – Continue reading
The Irish Government is to hike the top tax rate payable on offshore petroleum exploration and production, to ensure that the State reaps more revenue from future licensees. Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte is to act on recommendations made by sector experts Wood Mackenzie in a report commissioned by the Government…. – Continue reading
Pat Rabbitte, Ireland’s energy minister, has introduced a proposal to increase Irish offshore tax rates. The proposed rules will provide a higher tax take for the state, ensuring earlier revenue from developed fields, Rabbitte said at a Dublin conference. The proposed rules would charge taxes on a field by field… – Continue reading
In an era when many companies seek international solutions that in simpler times might have been openly labeled “tax evasion,” governments around the world are seeking to ensure they are not cheated of legally due taxes by what is now euphemistically called “profit shifting.” Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been keeping… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission has told Ireland it may investigate more companies as part of a probe into the country’s tax practices, after announcing a formal probe into Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) Irish subsidiaries, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The EU is investigating whether Ireland, Luxembourg… – Continue reading
Irish and shareholder eyes may be smiling at the prospect of medtech giant Medtronic acquiring Covidien and moving its headquarters to Ireland, where Covidien is based, but the $42.9 billion deal is causing at least a few frowns, as well. Minneapolis-based Medtronic is the largest U.S. company to try to… – Continue reading
US multinationals incorporated in Ireland should have their entire global operations taxed here, a leading academic has claimed. Addressing the Oireachtas sub-committee on global taxation yesterday, Jim Stewart, associate professor in finance at Trinity College Dublin, said that existing tax residency rules, for multinational firms, are “extremely ambiguous” and suggested… – Continue reading
Here in Ireland we can puff up our breasts and deny that there is anything tax haven-like about this country but the rest of the world believes otherwise. Poor Enda Kenny, who is chief theologian on the not-a-tax-haven side needs the Medtronic announcement like a hole in the head. There… – Continue reading
Tens of thousands of Irish people and foreign nationals who have worked and lived in the UK or US and still have investments, property or pension funds there, are particularly vulnerable to those countries’ tax regulations. Soon, one group in particular – the nearly 12,000 American citizens living in Ireland… – Continue reading
Botswana and Ireland have signed an agreement on double taxation avoidance to enable free tax income flowing between the two countries.Speaking at the signing agreement in Gaborone on Wednesday, finance and development planning minister, Kenneth Matambo said the agreement was a commendable move because it was only when there was… – Continue reading
Ireland’s new double trade taxation agreement with Botswana is expected to boost two-way trade and investment between the two countries, which last year was worth almost €3.5m. The agreement was signed yesterday by Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello and Botswana’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo…. – Continue reading
The European Commission raised pressure on Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg over their corporate tax practices, saying it was investigating deals the countries have cut with Apple, Starbucks and Fiat. The Commission, the executive body of the European Union, is looking at whether the countries’ tax treatment of multinationals that… – Continue reading
EC launches Apple tax investigation The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland The EC has announced three “in-depth investigations” into the transfer pricing arrangements on the corporate taxation of Apple, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat in Luxembourg, as to whether they comply… – Continue reading
Apple Operations International, the principal Irish holding company for foreign subsidiaries, was not always stateless for tax purposes based on the last filed accounts in Ireland. It stopped paying tax in Ireland from 2006, based on US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations evidence. The most explosive revelation in the May… – Continue reading
The European Commission is set to open formal investigations into Apple’s tax arrangements with Ireland. Last year, the US Senate accused the country of functioning as a “tax haven for Apple.” By funnelling profits into Irish subsidiaries that had no declared tax residency, the company was able to pay just… – Continue reading
Ireland’s revenue agency has launched a dedicated Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) webpage containing information and links to documents on a range of initiatives. In unveiling the page, Revenue said that Ireland fully supports the global move towards AEOI. The page provides guidance on the Intergovernmental Agreement reached with the… – Continue reading
Tax breaks for Apple Inc. (AAPL:US), Starbucks Corp. (SBUX:US) and Fiat Finance & Trade SA in three European Union countries are under investigation by EU competition regulators in a clampdown on special treatment for companies. The EU is checking whether the tax deals in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are illegal state aid, according to… – Continue reading
Reuters) – The European Commission raised pressure on Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg over their corporate tax practices, saying it was investigating deals the countries have cut with Apple, Starbucks and Fiat. The EU is looking at whether the countries’ tax treatment of multinationals, which help to attract investment and… – Continue reading
Additional details on the allegedly impending investigation from the European Commission were not shared by the initial source, Ireland’s RTE, according to Reuters. A formal announcement of the investigation is expected to follow.It’s already been established through other investigations that Apple has not broken any laws in utilizing Ireland as a tax haven,… – Continue reading
Irish state broadcaster RTE reports that the European Commission had decided to launch a formal investigation into Apple (AAPL)’s tax arrangements in Ireland. An announcement is expected by EU’s Competition Commissioner to follow: “The European Commission is to open a formal investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements with Ireland. An announcement is expected to… – Continue reading
The probe, announced on Wednesday by Europe’s competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia, will look into whether the low rate of tax Apple pays in Ireland breaks European state aid rules. Apple pays less than two percent tax in the country — far less than the standard 12.5 percent corporation tax… – Continue reading
The existing rules for international taxation are still grounded in doing business between countries and don’t take account of global business models. We’re all familiar with global business models even if we don’t always think of them as such. Consider a mother who decides to buy a laptop for her… – Continue reading
The European Union may open a formal probe as soon as next week into tax breaks that Ireland and the Netherlands use to attract international companies, according to people familiar with the case. The European Commission is scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting June 11, said two people,… – Continue reading
Having spent the past eighteen months claiming that Ireland does not facilitate international corporate tax avoidance despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the Irish Government has done a U-turn and has signalled that it is ready to prepare for the reality of reform. On Tuesday the Department of Finance published… – Continue reading
International tax policy changes being considered by the OECD could shave €1bn off Ireland’s annual multinational tax take, a Dáil Committee has heard. Addressing a joint sub-committee hearing on global taxation matters, yesterday, Brian Keegan — director of taxation at Chartered Accountants Ireland — said the OECD’s base erosion and… – Continue reading
It is a figure which Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), the US group which authored the report, says highlights Ireland’s popular use as a tax haven among US companies. Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Policy in Washington DC, tells IBTimes UK: “It’s a clear indicator… – Continue reading
If any U.S. company seems ripe for moving to an island tax haven, it’s Chiquita. Based in Charlotte, the company’s sale of bananas, grown largely in Central America, accounts for two-thirds of its profits. But Chiquita isn’t bound for the tropics. It’s headed to Ireland, where the climate may be… – Continue reading
THE Department of Finance has launched a public consultation on how Ireland’s tax system might respond to proposed international changes. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is already conducting a public discussion around its Base Erosion and Profit shifting (BEPs) project, which could see tax avoidance loopholes shut… – Continue reading
Ireland has been “unfairly singled out” as a tax haven for corporations, Dublin-based Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Monday on CNBC. “I wish we were, but we’re not,” he said. As one of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, O’Leary also described as “egregious” personal tax rates there. “The top tax rate … is about… – Continue reading
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 21st 2014 (CUOPM) – The St. Kitts and Nevis Federal Cabinet has paved the way for the signing of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with Ireland and South Africa. Cabinet has approved the draft agreements between officials of the respective countries. “Those negotiation exercises have since… – Continue reading
Corporate Tax Avoidance: Last week the news that Apple is considering buying Beats Electronics, a maker of expensive headphones that was founded by record mogul Jimmy Iovine and rap artist Dr Dre, for $3.2bn, got a lot of media attention. Dr Dre must have pissed-off Apple when he bragged on… – Continue reading
Large subsidiaries of multinationals, such as Apple and Google, which are based in Ireland are able to escape paying corporation tax due to an “exceptional” interpretation of tax laws by the Revenue Commissioners, a new study claims. A research paper by James Stewart, associate professor in finance at Trinity College… – Continue reading
OECD BEPS Project: If new international corporate tax rules take effect from 2016, at least €50bn or half the annual value of services exports will be vapourised. Nevertheless, Ireland should support reform to a) protect the 12.5% corporation tax rate that will continue to give the country an advantage in… – Continue reading
Mauritian conglomerate Ireland Blyth IBLP.MZ says uncertainty over new tax rules by key trading partner India has affected its business by putting off investors using the Mauritius financial center to invest in India. Nicolas Maigrot, chief executive of the group which has a wide range of interests in financial services,… – Continue reading
BANK of Ireland is set to shutter its offshore banking operations in the Isle of Man following a strategic review. Bank of Ireland had used the Isle of Man as a deposit gathering operation in offshore savings. The bank’s Isle of Man operations had featured prominently in tribunals, with the… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The Government today issued what it calls a technical paper on effective corporation tax rates to effectively confuse the public by avoiding the key issues about its facilitation of corporate tax avoidance. It’s irrelevant to the core issues as it is simply trying to divert attention… – Continue reading
IRELAND’s effective rate of corporation tax averaged between 10.7pc and 10.9pc over the last decade, a report by the Department of Finance states. It claims that the tax paid by companies is close to the 12.5pc headline rate, amid controversy over the amount paid by multinationals here. The Department commissioned… – Continue reading
Irish Economy 2014: Ibec, Ireland’s leading business lobby group, in its latest economic forecast today forecasts “continued robust growth in services exports and a recovery in goods exports.” The strong growth in services mainly reflects tax-avoidance related revenue diversions to Ireland that do not reflect local economic activity. If the… – Continue reading
Corporate Tax Reform: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held a briefing and webcast at its Paris headquarters Wednesday on its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and Pascal Saint-Amans, the director of the OECD’s tax centre confirmed that “Double Irish Dutch” sandwich tax schemes, which involve… – Continue reading
A call to tax technology companies such as Apple and Google in the countries where they have substantial activities has re-ignited concerns companies may be taxed twice and stop business altogether. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is working on a global plan to prevent companies from avoiding paying… – Continue reading
A looming global crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance is set to stop internet companies slashing bills by routing profits to havens. Plans to “restore taxation” in the countries where digital companies make their sales and base their headquarters were set out on Monday in the first international response to the… – Continue reading
OECD plan to make practice of shifting locations ineffective New rules aimed at preventing the type of aggressive tax avoidance schemes run by some of the largest multinational employers here will begin to be introduced in September, according to a draft report seen by The Irish Times . Structures that artificially shift… – Continue reading
European Union competition watchdogs ordered Luxembourg to hand over details of tax breaks for businesses after they said the Grand Duchy was hindering a state-aid probe spanning several EU nations. Luxembourg refused to deliver details concerning the 100 largest companies benefiting from a special program for companies whose profits stem… – Continue reading
U.S. corporations added at least $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to. They have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the U.S., up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to securities filings from 307 corporations…. – Continue reading
The Canada-BVI Tax Information Exchange Agreement (“TIEA”) came into force on 11 March 2014. The TIEA was signed in May 2013, and the effective date provisions are set out in Article 13 of the Agreement. The BVI is now party to 25 TIEAs. What are the benefits? The BVI/Canada TIEA is significant due… – Continue reading
Changes to Ireland’s residency rules, designed to eliminate mismatches between tax treaty partners, have not yet affected the residency status of any company, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed. The reforms were introduced in Noonan’s 2014 Budget and included in this year’s Finance Bill. They are intended to prevent companies… – Continue reading
US companies appear to be thumbing their noses at a global crackdown on tax avoidance, with share registry group Computershare reporting an increase in multinationals re-incorporating in Ireland. In a briefing to investors on its regional outlook last week, Computershare said its Irish division had noticed ”further momentum in US… – Continue reading
