Marcon, Martin talk tax in Ireland

If there’s one policy issue that will invariably be on the agenda of any political figurehead visiting Ireland, it’s taxation and the country’s corporate tax policy. That was certainly the case this week when French President Emmanuel Macron met his host in Ireland, Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

Although over 130 countries recently agreed to a 15% minimum global tax for multinationals, Ireland is adamant at sticking to its 12.5% rate. But Macron had compelling arguments for his counterpart this week. ‘Our citizens can no more understand that when you are an SME, you pay tax but when you are a big digital group, you don’t pay tax. They want us to change the system,’ he said. The current circumstances have rendered Irish policy antiquated.  

Media reports say that behind the scenes, Irish officials believe other nations might support exceptions to the flat 15% rate when the OECD negotiations resume in October.