Google FAIL
online firm still depriving irish taxpayer of billions, Mep claims
GOOGLE is still allegedly depriving the Irish public of billions because it appears it is continuing to use the Double Irish tax dodge.
This is despite the Government announcing four years ago the loophole would be closed from January 1, 2015.
A cooling off period was provided up to 2020 for companies to get their houses in order.
However, it was claimed in the European Parliament this week the online giant is still gorging on the tasty tax arrangement.
Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy said: “The latest annual tax return filed by Google Ireland Holdings with the Companies Register in Dublin seems to show it’s Double Irish structure with Bermuda remains in place.
“I questioned Google’s representative as to whether this was the case at our hearing. Mr Adam Cohen [Google Head of Economic Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa] confirmed Google’s corporate structure has not changed in the past several years.
“The response is significant as it dispels a myth we hear repeatedly that the Double Irish is gone.
“The Government keeps referring to this scam as something in the past, but a company like Google is continuing to avoid billions in tax on an annual basis due to its ongoing use of the Double Irish structure.
“It is doing this by storing its intellectual property in an Irishregistered letterbox company that supposedly has its ‘management and control’ located in zero-tax Bermuda.
“It is unjustifiable that Google can continue to use this structure for two more years.
“Just how many billions of euros will it have shifted to Bermuda since 2014 when the announcement was made to end the Double Irish?
“Clearly, tax reform in the US has not ended the motivation for multinationals to base their IP in tax havens with our Government’s help.”
A Google spokesman told the Irish Mirror last night: “As a US company, we pay the majority of our corporate income tax in the US.
“Until the end of 2017 the US tax system allowed companies to defer taxation of their international profits.
“Google’s international profits have now been taxed in the US, increasing our tax charge last year by $10billion and raising our 10-year effective tax rate to 26%.” The EU forced the Government to scrap the Double Irish, which helped attract many US multinationals here.
It was a clever accounting trick where huge profits could be transferred offshore to another country, through another country, with the result being the transfers reduced the profits on which the taxes were owed.
The Government keeps referring to this scam as in the past but its use is ongoing matt Carthy Sinn Fein mep yesterday
THE disclosure that Google is still apparently availing of a tax loophole which was supposed to be closed years ago is shocking but not surprising.
It is a scandal that corporations are being allowed to avoid paying their fair share of tax when workers are being fleeced by the Revenue.
Despite denials by the Government it has been proved beyond doubt that when it comes to tax dodging this country is a soft touch.
Tax dodges such as the Double Irish have been known for years but this Government failed to act depriving the country of muchneeded funds at a time when cuts were being made to health and education.
Even when the Double Irish loophole was closed off in 2015 the large corporations were allowed to continue using it until 2020.
This, along with its reluctance to accept the €13billion in back tax from Apple, shows the Fine Gael Government is reluctant to ensure the multinationals pay their fair share.
On the other hand if a self-employed person or a small business was to play fast and loose with the Revenue they would be hit with massive fines and a possible jail sentence.
Even when one loophole is closed another one opens and the corporations are now using another dodge known as the Single Malt.
When the corporation tax rate is only 12.5% it is imperative corporations pay and should be punished if they fail to pay up.