High US taxes pushing US companies into Ireland: Tax reform group

There are calls from the US for Ireland's corporate tax rate to remain at 12.5%.

A conference in Dublin this afternoon will discuss the issue, with speakers from the group Americans for Tax Reform along with banking and accountancy specialists from Ireland.

The organisers say the event comes amid international pressure on Ireland, as well as a debate in the US, on penalties for American companies that file their taxes here.

Tax policy director with the Americans for Tax Reform group Ryan Ellis said some US companies do business in Ireland in order to escape the high rates of tax in the States.

"If people are complaining that US companies are incentivised because of our (US) tax system to exercise multinational opportunites, the culprit is the US tax system.

"It's a little passive-aggressive to slap a 40% corporate tax on you as a US company and then throw your hands up and wonder why you try to do something to avoid that 40% tax."