Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 September 2016
179. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the correspondence his Department has had with its Brazilian counterparts in view of the Brazilian authorities decision to designate Ireland as a tax haven; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26852/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI was surprised and disappointed to learn that the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service have added Ireland to Brazil's tax black list. I understand that the operation of the listing was initially backdated to 1 August but has now been suspended until 1 October. No notice of this decision was given to the Irish Government by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and we have not received a detailed explanation as to why Ireland has been included on the list.
There has been no direct correspondence between my Department and the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service on this matter. The Irish Ambassador to Brazil is leading our engagement with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service to seek Ireland's permanent removal from this list as soon as possible. My officials are in close contact with the Ambassador and supporting these efforts.
Ireland strongly rejects any allegations that we are a tax haven. Ireland does not meet any of the international standards for being considered a tax haven. Ireland is fully compliant with all international best practices in the areas of tax transparency and exchange of information. Ireland's corporate tax policies are designed to attract real and substantive operations to Ireland. Ireland has not been and will never will be a brass-plate location. We only have and want real substantive FDI, the kind that brings real jobs and investment into Ireland.
Ireland is an active participant in global work to reform the international corporate tax system. We have implemented Country by Country Reporting, agreed the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive and are working towards the implementation of the remaining OECD BEPS recommendations both domestically and internationally.
