Government to use diplomatic corps to reject tax haven accusations

The Government is set to officially reject accusations by US senators this week that the country acts as a tax haven for multinationals.

It will also launch a diplomatic offensive in a bid to repair the damage done to its reputation abroad.

Ministers have been forced to defend the country’s low corporate tax rate after the US Senate said last week that Apple paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits channelled through Irish subsidiaries and that it had effectively negotiated a special corporate tax rate of less than 2%.