Glanbia defends tax status against claims

Glanbia has defended itself against claims it used Luxembourg-based subsidiaries to lower its Irish tax bill, saying it had an effective corporate tax rate of 17% last year on its global earnings, with the majority of payments made to the Irish exchequer.

“The group is tax compliant in all of the jurisdictions in which it operates,” the Kilkenny-based dairy and nutrition-focused food group said in a statement.

It was reported yesterday that Glanbia, along with other Irish and international firms, negotiated tax avoidance agreements with the Luxembourg authorities, whereby they established so-called brass plate subsidiaries, invested in them, loaned that money back to the parent firm, and used the interest paid on the loan to reduce its home tax bill.