Ireland finds support for corporate tax policies

Ireland found itself surrounded by supporters, for the first time, on the issue of corporate tax rates, during an informal meeting of EU finance ministers.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan was not present, as he returned to Dublin early, but the head of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan and a number of the Government’s tax experts attended.

Usually, nobody mentions tax rates, other than to complain about the low rates in some countries, notably Ireland’s 12.5%, partly because the setting of tax rates is a national competence over which the EU has no say.