DUP's Sammy Wilson accuses Irish government of 'stealing' tax revenue

DColeman

The Northern Ireland Finance Minister Sammy Wilson has accused the Irish government of "stealing" UK tax revenue.

The DUP minister said he was concerned companies were using the Republic of Ireland to pay tax which he claims should be paid in the UK.

The Irish government has insisted there is nothing wrong with its tax laws.

Mr Wilson said the UK government should put pressure on Ireland.

"My view is that the British government does have some leverage on the Irish government there, because they have a £7.5bn loan, that is a lot of leverage," he told the BBC programme Sunday Politics.

"They should be saying to the government in the Republic, you cannot steal tax revenue from us in this way and that is in fact what has been happening."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22925772

There's lots of anger in DUP about the ROI's tax policy and now are accusing of the ROI outragiously stealing revenue from the UK, so does he have a point?

Rightwing

DColeman wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22925772

There's lots of anger in DUP about the ROI's tax policy and now are accusing of the ROI outragiously stealing revenue from the UK, so does he have a point?

He probably has a bit of a point, but not 'stealing' that's madness. We do need to tighten up our lax taxation regime, we're becoming a laughing stock.

Taxing the citizen into the ground, and not taxing companies a cent. Rather giving them thousands per worker in grants and subsidies :mad:

Cody Pomeray

We're not becoming "a laughing stock". I watched a lot of the comment on Bloomberg, and it appears to be regarded as opportunism; the international financial commentary has focussed on the inadequacy of the corporation tax model in its current form... which is a fact we are all going to have to face up to on an EU/ international level.

Rightwing

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

We're not becoming "a laughing stock". I watched a lot of the comment on Bloomberg, and it appears to be regarded as opportunism; the international financial commentary has focussed on the inadequacy of the corporation tax model in its current form... which is a fact we are all going to have to face up to on an EU/ international level.

There's no doubt there's opportinism on behalf of companies, but what do Governments expect when countries provide the platform for them to exploit it?

NinjaK

Ironic them lot talking about stealing.

NIMAN

There was a top executive on the radio the other day (think he was from Google or similar) who said that he felt Ireland was being portrayed harshly wrt all this 'tax haven' stuff.

He said that the UK has made some tax changes recently for companies (example was around tax on patents) but their's are called 'tax incentives' by the UK Gov, whereas if another country like Ireland does it they are called 'tax loopholes'.

Each Gov is guilty of letting big corporations off tax. How can the UK complain when they probably took more tax off me over the last few years than off Starbucks!!

Rightwing

NIMAN wrote: »

There was a top executive on the radio the other day (think he was from Google or similar) who said that he felt Ireland was being portrayed harshly wrt all this 'tax haven' stuff.

He said that the UK has made some tax changes recently for companies (example was around tax on patents) but their's are called 'tax incentives' by the UK Gov, whereas if another country like Ireland does it they are called 'tax loopholes'.

Each Gov is guilty of letting big corporations off tax. How can the UK complain when they probably took more tax off me over the last few years than off Starbucks!!

But what do you expect these guys to say ?

They'll tell us what
1. We want to hear.
2. What will give them the most cash in their back pockets.

I'd give the conservatives some credit, they are looking to tackle the problem, unlike Blair and his 'new labour'.

Cody Pomeray

Rightwing wrote: »

There's no doubt there's opportinism on behalf of companies, but what do Governments expect when countries provide the platform for them to exploit it?

Yes it is corporate opportunism, but I should have clarified I am referring to opportunism on behalf of the Government and the tax authorities. They are happy to ride the coat tails of a corporation's tax avoidance, however improper, so long as there is some net benefit accruing in terms of jobs. It's a lazy and unstable, and most of all irresponsible economic policy.

However, I think the G8 and the US Government in particular are semi-resigned to the idea of tax havens or profit manipulation via transfer pricing under the current corporate tax regimes worldwide. From their point of view, if it's not us, it will be someone else. One of the positive things that will hopefully emerge from the G8 conference in Fermanagh would be an agreement to work towards a more efficient method of appropriating a fair tax contribution from corporations. The entire system needs a reform.

Rightwing

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Yes it is corporate opportunism, but I should have clarified I am referring to opportunism on behalf of the Government and the tax authorities. They are happy to ride the coat tails of a corporation's tax avoidance, however improper, so long as there is some net benefit accruing in terms of jobs. It's a lazy and unstable, and most of all irresponsible economic policy.

However, I think the G8 and the US Government in particular are semi-resigned to the idea of tax havens or profit manipulation via transfer pricing under the current corporate tax regimes worldwide. From their point of view, if it's not us, it will be someone else. One of the positive things that will hopefully emerge from the G8 conference in Fermanagh would be an agreement to work towards a more efficient method of appropriating a fair tax contribution from corporations. The entire system needs a reform.

Couldn't agree with your 1st point more.
Not so sure about the 2nd, they will clamp down on these companies, in fact the way I see it, they have no choice, they're bust.

Nodin

DColeman wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22925772

There's lots of anger in DUP about the ROI's tax policy and now are accusing of the ROI outragiously stealing revenue from the UK, so does he have a point?

Yes and no. The fact is they'd do the exact same given half a chance.

Politicians in Northern Ireland have been discussing proposals to alter the
business tax rate in Stormont.
All the main political parties in Northern Ireland and the business community have championed reducing the rate from 26% to closer to the 12.5% rate amid claims that it would generate 4,500 new jobs a year.
..........................
First Minister Peter Robinson said around 58,000 new jobs could be created by 2030 if Northern Ireland ministers had the power to set corporation tax
levels.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0707/303431-stormont/

pablomakaveli

DUP politician having a go at Irish governement. Hardly surprising.

In relation to the the whole Google tax fiasco though Ireland has been demonized in the media here in the UK in reporting this issue.

Cody Pomeray

Rightwing wrote: »

they will clamp down on these companies, in fact the way I see it, they have no choice, they're bust.

Oh yes, I totally agree, I was just responding to the point about Ireland being a laughing stock. We're not a laughing stock and our government haven't really been getting any international condemnation either. What I mean is that the US media don't particularly care who's facilitating the manipulation of profit, us or Bermuda or the Vatican City. All they care about is that it's happening, and it looks like they're going to do their best to stop it.

Lets just hope we have a sustainable backup plan. Wouldn't be the first time Irish economic planning was caught short.

Rightwing

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Oh yes, I totally agree, I was just responding to the point about Ireland being a laughing stock. We're not a laughing stock and our government haven't really been getting any international condemnation either. What I mean is that the US media don't particularly care who's facilitating the manipulation of profit, us or Bermuda or the Vatican City. All they care about is that it's happening, and it looks like they're going to do their best to stop it.

Lets just hope we have a sustainable backup plan. Wouldn't be the first time Irish economic planning was caught short.

Spot on.

We're a laughing stock in the sense that we're a 1 trick pony and are becoming totally dependent on these MNCs to the point that they can dictate ridiculous term to us.

I've been saying it for years, concentrate on indigenous industry and the domestic economy.

feargale

All credit to the British media for raising this question in the first instance and making it a world-wide issue. And may the devil thank the G8 leaders for belatedly getting in on the act. "There go the masses. We are the leaders. We must follow." Let's see if their words are matched by deeds or window dressing. This issue has been around since Adam's time. As for Sammy Wilson, I don't recall that he ever exercised his influence where it might have been most effective - in persuading the British government to use its muscle to put an end to tax harbouring where it is most prevalent, i.e. in all those latter-day Port Royals, such as Gibraltar, Jersey and Cayman Islands, where Britain's flag flies. But why bother about that, Sammy, when there is an opportunity to bash bog-trotting Papes? You don't have to fire the gun to commit the crime. Yes, Ireland is guilty. We have, as usual, fallen for the green jersey argument, when we should see this not as an opportunity for Ireland to gain at the expense of other states, but as allowing bully-boy multinationals to get off scot-free at the expense of hard-pressed ordinary taxpayers.