Sir, – The Minister for Finance and his department, and our diplomatic network which supported them, must be congratulated on their skilful and successful handling of the OECD negotiations. To have obtained an assurance from the European Commission that it will not propose a rate above 15 per cent is particularly significant. The scale of the reallocation of profits to countries whose residents contribute most of the data which are the lifeblood of Big Tech could also have been much greater.
In broader terms, the new arrangements should remove the only serious source of tension and vulnerability in our relationship with many other EU member states, notably France.
From as far back as the negotiations on the Treaty of Nice in 2000 we have continually had to expend considerable diplomatic capital in defending our position, both on the rate and more recently on major multinationals’ tax avoidance schemes. Not to have to do so in future will be liberating. It is of great strategic importance in underscoring that while, like every other member state, we pursue our own national interests, we do so in a constructive and collaborative way.
International taxation policy will always be sensitive and potentially contentious, and no doubt further battles lie ahead. But an albatross has been lifted from Ireland’s neck. We have to hope that the US will now enact the reforms it has been demanding of others. The most recent signals from Capitol Hill seem to be encouraging. – Yours, etc,
RORY MONTGOMERY,
( Permanent Representative
to the EU 2009-13,
Ambassador to
France 2013-14),
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Before we accede to pressure and actually change our corporate tax rate, I wonder should we seek Unesco intangible cultural heritage protection for it?– Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.