Government should defend corporate tax rate and ignore ‘tax haven’ claim

Ireland is not a tax haven and the Government should vigorously defend the corporate tax rate, said Peter Keegan, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

Ireland’s low corporate tax rate has come in for widespread criticism over recent years — mainly from other EU member states. The country has been described as a tax haven on a number of occasions.

“It is time to recognise that the international tax debate has moved way beyond our headline rate. Consolidation of the tax base, a Financial Transaction Tax and Transfer Pricing are all under the microscope as never before,” said Mr Keegan, addressing AmCham’s President’s Lunch yesterday.