Banking tax report hurts Ireland’s reputation again

AND there goes our reputation again.

The Department of Finance contests it. But accusations of Ireland being a tax haven are bound to follow a report saying European banks based here are paying tax rates well below Ireland’s headline corporation tax rate of 12.5pc.

The report from Oxfam, entitled ‘Opening the Vault’, states that Barclays, RBS and Crédit Agricole paid an effective tax rate here of just 2pc in 2015. The report for the charity says 16 of the top 20 European banks operating in Ireland were paying an effective tax rate of 6pc or less.

That is well below the levels outlined by the Government and the IDA when attracting companies here.

The activities of five banks – RBS, Société Générale, Uni-Credit, Santander and BBVA – recorded profits in Ireland higher than their turnover. The data resulted in Oxfam concluding it “potentially suggests that they are artificially shifting profits to Ireland”.

Predictably, the Department of Finance rejected the assertions in the report: “We only have and want real substantive FDI, the kind that brings real jobs and investment into Ireland. Ireland is also fully compliant with all international best practices in the areas of tax transparency and exchange of information.”

However, this latest report comes in the wake of the European Commission’s €13bn Apple tax ruling.

Being ranked as the fourth worst tax haven in the world won’t do a lot for Brand Ireland.