Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 September 2015
138. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the Lux leaks tax scandal; the inquiries his Department has made in relation to Irish-based account holders in the decade prior to 2010 and in the years since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32827/15]
View answerIn November and December 2014, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ('ICIJ') published a large volume of confidential documentation relating to agreements approved by the Luxembourg Authorities on behalf of more than 340 companies worldwide. The documents cover the period from 2003 to 2011. The published documentation is very extensive and includes materials relating to 42 Irish entities (that is, Irish companies or Irish subsidiaries or branches of foreign multinationals).
Following the revelations the Revenue Commissioners decided to look at the material relating to the Irish based entities and enquire into the circumstances of the transactions to see if they could ascertain whether the Irish tax system was being abused in any fashion (either by way of tax evasion or tax avoidance or to see if the transactions gave rise to any tax policy concerns that might need to be addressed through legislative action).
I understand that Revenue reviewed the documentation on the ICIJ website and issued enquiry letters to every Irish entity mentioned in the documentation.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they are currently examining the relevant transactions, the responses received from the Irish entities and any tax issues arising. When this examination is finished, Revenue will decide on what further action is necessary (for example, if a Revenue audit is appropriate in any of the cases).
In addition, I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they propose to write to my Department and provide it with a high level outline of the outcome of their enquiries, with a particular emphasis on highlighting any tax policy issues for Ireland that might be identified.
Naturally, Revenue, for confidentiality reasons, will not be in a position to provide me with specific details in respect of individual companies. However, I am assured by the Revenue Commissioners that they will provide sufficient anonymised descriptions of the types of transactions involved and the possible impacts, if any, that such transactions could pose to the Irish tax system.
The ICIJ documentation relates to certain (not all) tax rulings provided by the Luxembourg tax authorities up to the year 2011. As respects any possible additional tax rulings made by the Luxembourg tax authorities for, or in connection with, Irish related entities since 2011, under current legislation Revenue cannot identify or investigate such rulings, unless further information is made public.
However, the EU Council is currently discussing a proposed Directive for the automatic exchange of information on advance cross-border rulings (that is, tax rulings made by one Member State that may impact on the tax base of another Member State). Discussions on this proposal are now at an advanced stage and Ireland fully supports the proposal. Part of the proposal is for a look back period of 5 years to apply. In other words, the directive would apply to cross border tax rulings made in the 5 year period immediately before the Directive comes into force.
