Budget 2017: Ireland faces new initiative over tax

The 12.5% corporation tax rate has been reaffirmed in Budget 2017, but tax continues to cast a long shadow over Ireland’s reputation in Europe.

It was only in recent yeras the Government announced it was phasing out a loophole in Irish company law that enabled firms to set up here without being tax resident, a practice known as the ‘double Irish’.

The rule enabled Apple, over decades, to funnel profits on its EU sales through two Irish companies, paying as low a tax rate as 0.005% in one year, according to the European Commission.