Irish grip tight to low tax

Irish members of the European Parliament, like a great many of their countrymen, feel it is crucial to keep their country’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate that low. It is one of the lowest in Europe, the average being just under 26 percent.

Gay Mitchell is a Dublin MEP with opposition party Fine Gael.

Mitchell said: “If you put up corporation tax it doesn’t mean you take more taxes. Let me give you an example. One third of all the corporation tax we collect comes from the financial services sector in Ireland. Twenty-five thousand jobs are created by that. This is a real contribution to our solidarity, to our needs. These are people who would otherwise be on the dole or would be drawing social welfare. If governments in Europe want to put the corporation tax on the agenda, let them put it on the agenda. But it will be 27 corporation tax rates that will be on the agenda, not one. So, let’s not get carried away with this issue.”

The rate is around 25 percent in the UK, 33 in France, but generally not as high in other EU countries. The Irish do not want multinational companies set up in their republic to be put off by a higher tax.

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