‘Fantasy’ GDP surge brings international gaze back to tax regime

The transfer of corporate assets into Ireland by a handful of multinationals which led to a huge surge in Irish GDP runs the risk of putting the country’s tax regime back under the international spotlight, analysts have warned.

The CSO said the capital transfers led to “dramatic” revisions to its GDP numbers and means the economy here surged last year by 26.3%, up from its preliminary estimate of 7.8%.

The increase in assets on the national accounts, however, led to “no substantial” increase in the number of jobs and did not increase exports because some of the companies are involved in so-called contract manufacturing where the goods and services are made by plants located abroad.