Clinton: US must reform tax system to match Irish model

It is up to the US government to reform the country’s corporate tax system because the international trend is moving to the Irish model of low corporate rate with the burden on consumption taxes, said the former US president Bill Clinton.

Moreover, there is no substance to the claim that Ireland is a tax haven, he said. “Ireland has the right to set whatever taxes you want.”

Mr Clinton made his comments to Pat Kenny during an interview on Newstalk. During Senate Committee meetings last June into the tax affairs of multinationals, Ireland came in for heavy criticism because it was used by Apple in aggressive tax avoidance schemes.