Pearse Doherty
Question:179. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the average statutory and effective tax rate for multinational corporations in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s. [25526/13]
View answerTuesday, 28 May 2013
Questions (179)
Written answers
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the statutory standard Corporation tax rates for all companies is as shown in the following table for all years from 1980. Information in relation to the tax payments of multinational corporations is not separately identifiable. In relation to the effective tax rate for multinational corporations, I have repeatedly stated that there is no agreed international methodology for calculating the ‘effective rate’ of corporation tax. As there is no single internationally agreed comparative measure in place, I am not in a position to provide such a measure for the period referred to by the Deputy.
You may wish to note that information from the corporation tax returns filed by all companies for tax years from 1990/91 up to 2010, the latest year currently available, is published in the Statistical Reports of the Revenue Commissioners. The information in the reports for tax years 1995/96 and onwards is available on the Revenue Commissioners website and can be accessed using the following link http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/publications/statistical-reports.html.
Based on the information in the Revenue reports, the following table shows the standard rate of Corporation Tax applicable to profits earned in the year, with the following notes:
- Where two tax rates are shown for a year it denotes a rate change applying during the year.
- The Corporation tax for years prior to 2001 includes an element of income tax paid by companies.
- In addition to these rates, a rate of 25% applies to non-trading income such as Schedule D Case III, IV and V, certain land dealing activities and income from working minerals and petroleum activities with effect from 1 January 2001
|
Year |
Standard Rate of Corporation Tax applicable to profits earned in the year |
|
1980 |
45% |
|
1981 |
45% |
|
1982 |
50% |
|
1983 |
50% |
|
1984 |
50% |
|
1985 |
50% |
|
1986 |
50% |
|
1987 |
50% |
|
1988 |
50% & 47% |
|
1989 |
47% & 43% |
|
1990 |
43% |
|
1991 |
43% & 40% |
|
1992 |
40% |
|
1993 |
40% |
|
1994 |
40% |
|
1995 |
38% & 40% |
|
1996 |
38% |
|
1997 |
38% & 36% |
|
1998 |
32% |
|
1999 |
28% |
|
2000 |
24% |
|
2001 |
20% |
|
2002 |
16% |
|
2003 |
12.5% |
|
2004 |
12.5% |
|
2005 |
12.5% |
|
2006 |
12.5% |
|
2007 |
12.5% |
|
2008 |
12.5% |
|
2009 |
12.5% |
|
2010 |
12.5% |
|
2011 |
12.5% |
|
2012 |
12.5% |
Further, it should be noted that there were a number 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.