Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013
146. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details on the way companies other than Apple have had special arrangements with the Irish tax authorities to reduce their tax levels; if he will list these in tabular form; when these agreements were negotiated; by whom they were negotiated and under what authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25183/13]
View answer147. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance in respect of a special tax arrangement afforded to the Apple company, if any taxpayer can seek such a reduced tax arrangement; if he will give details on the mechanism and process for deciding the special tax rate that is paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25184/13]
View answer148. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance in respect of special tax arrangements afforded to Apple operations based here, if he will publish figures of the benefit to the Irish State of these tax arrangements; the amount the State would have stood to gain had normal tax rates been applied for each of the years this company has been operational here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25185/13]
View answer149. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide figures on the gains to the Exchequer as a result of special tax arrangements granted to foreign direct investors here for the past ten years, as against the gain that could have been incurred were normal tax rules to have been applied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25186/13]
View answer150. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance in respect of the special arrangement afforded to the Apple company, the areas other than corporation tax that are open in the tax code for negotiation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25187/13]
View answer159. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to any arrangement explicit or implicit that has been entered into with Apple in order to limit tax paid by the company here; if there is such an arrangement; if he will provide details of that arrangement including the length of time it has been operable; the amount it has cost the State; and the person that negotiated the arrangement and under what authority. [25298/13]
View answer160. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to any arrangements with any multinational corporations based here which allows special treatment for tax purposes; if any MNCs have made representations to him or his Department to avail of special tax reliefs; if any other organisation including business representatives or tax consultancy and advisory firms have made an approach to him or his Department to either advise on tax measures for business or to request the special tax treatment of any business or group. [25299/13]
View answer177. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to any tax incentive that was offered to Apple to enter Ireland in the 1980s; if so, if he will state what the incentive consisted of; and if he will confirm if other multinational corporations were offered incentives. [25524/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 146 to 150, inclusive, 159, 160 and 177 together.
As the Deputies are aware, owing to tax payer confidentiality I am only able to speak in general terms about this issue and matters that are already in the public domain. As the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, numerous other Ministers, and I have explained already, there is no special tax rate deal done with any company. The Irish tax system is statute-based and therefore there is no possibility of special tax rate deals being done with companies. All companies in Ireland pay the standard 12.5% rate on their trading profits arising in Ireland. All companies here pay a corporation tax rate of 25% on their non trading income, and chargeable capital gains are taxable at the capital gains tax rate of 33%. These rates are set down in statute law and are not open to negotiation with taxpayers.
I am advised that Revenue, as a matter of course, engages with taxpayers, including multi-national companies, in order to provide clarity as to the application of Irish tax law. The objective is to ensure that the correct Irish tax is paid by these companies at the correct time and in accordance with Irish law.
In relation specifically to the question of any approaches or representations to me by any parties to request the “special tax treatment”, I would emphasise again that there is no possibility of “special tax treatment” for any taxpayer outside of what is provided for in legislation. Having said that, of course the Deputies are aware that during the budgetary process each year the Department engages with all stakeholders as part of the consultation process and the Department receives a wide variety of submissions from interested parties.
In relation to the issue of tax incentives that were generally available to all companies in the 1980s, I would refer the Deputy to the scheme of relief from corporation tax provided for in Part IV of the Corporation Tax Act, 1976 (Export Sales Relief) which expired on 5 April 1990. That relief provided for a reduction to nil of the corporation tax on profits from the export of goods manufactured in the State.
Export Sales Relief was withdrawn on a phased basis from 1980 to 1991 and was effectively replaced with a relief provided for in Chapter VI of the 1980 Finance Act (Manufacturing Relief), which provided for a reduction of the corporation tax to a rate of 10% on profits from the sale of goods manufactured in the State. Manufacturing Relief expired on 31st December 2010. The manufacturing scheme of relief was extended to activities carried out in the IFSC and ancillary services located in the Customs House Docks Area and to activities carried on in the Shannon Airport Area. Relief for these activities expired on 31 December 2005.
I would reiterate that all companies resident in Ireland are now chargeable to corporation tax at the 12.5% rate on the profits that are generated from their trading activities in Ireland. A higher 25% rate applies in respect of investment, rental and other non-trading profits. Chargeable capital gains are taxable at the capital gains tax rate of 33%.
Question No. 151 answered with Question No. 140.
