Ireland has been listed sixth in an Oxfam report on the world’s worst
corporate tax havens.
The report has been rejected by the Department of
Finance and Minister Michael Noonan, who claimed that Oxfam is so wide
off what the factual position is that nobody will take the
NGO seriously.
The report, ‘Tax Battles’, shows that Ireland is sixth in a list of
15 countries described as tax havens which, according to Oxfam, are
leading “a global race to the bottom” on corporate tax.
“Ireland is part of a toxic global tax system servicing the very
wealthiest while ordinary people pay the price and lose out on essential
public services,” said Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland.
He added that Ireland is known around the world for “awful tax
policies that facilitate worsening inequality by allowing some of the
world’s richest companies to avoid paying their fair share to society.”
According to the report, the world’s worst tax havens, in order of
significance, are: (1) Bermuda (2) the Cayman Islands (3) the
Netherlands (4) Switzerland (5)Singapore (6) Ireland (7) Luxembourg (8)
Curaçao (9) Hong Kong (10) Cyprus (11) Bahamas (12) Jersey (13)
Barbados, (14) Mauritius and (15) the British Virgin Islands.
The UK does not feature on the list, but some of its territories do.
These include the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Bermuda and the British Virgin
Islands.
All the countries on Oxfam’s list have tax policies to minimise the
tax bills of large multinationals. Ireland’s score was based on its lack
of effective rules to prevent corporate tax avoidance and because of
profit-shifting and tax planning structures.
It also highlighted deals
like those enjoyed by Apple that enabled the global tech giant to pay a
low corporate tax rate.
“Not only do we turn a blind eye, we put out the red carpet for those
companies that get away with large-scale tax avoidance through
profit-shifting and sweetheart deals,” said Mr Clarken.
“From a national, European and international perspective, the game is
up. Citizens everywhere have had enough. We need to get serious about
making companies pay the tax that’s due and we need transparency about
where and how profits are made and where and how they are taxed. We
collect more detailed data about farm animals in this country than we do
about the tax affairs of multinationals.”
He added that changing tax rules to make them fair should not affect
Ireland adversely but would enhance our international reputation.
“We already have a lot to offer multinationals without underselling
ourselves by letting companies pay less than their fair share,” he said.
He suggested that Ireland, while claiming to be committed to dealing
with tax rules at the EU level, seems to be blocking potential reform.
He urged the government to agree international tax haven criteria and a
clear public list of where the tax havens are, and to introduce
sanctions to limit profit shifting.
Oxfam’s
report shows that as well as providing tax havens, countries across the
world are cutting corporate tax bills
to attract investment. Twenty-five years ago the average corporate tax
rate across G20 countries was 40% – today it is less than 30%.
The use of unproductive and wasteful tax incentives is also
increasing – particularly in the developing world. For example, tax
incentives cost Kenya $1.1 billion a year – almost double their entire
national health budget.
When corporate tax bills are cut, governments balance their books by
reducing public spending or by raising taxes such as VAT. This hits poor
people disproportionately.
For example, a 0.8% cut in corporate tax
rates across OECD countries between 2007 and 2014 was partially offset
by a 1.5% increase in the average standard VAT rate between 2008 and
2015.