Small gain but likely long-term pain for Ireland as British hike corporate tax to 25% to pay the Covid bills

Move likely to put more focus on the 12.5% rate here amid concern over OECD’s multinational tax reform measures, economists say  

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak outside 11 Downing Street, London, before heading to the House of Commons to deliver his budget. 

A decision by British chancellor Rishi Sunak in his budget to hike the British rate of corporation tax to 25% to help pay for the huge bills in fighting Covid-19 is no bonanza for Ireland, and may even pile pressure on the Government here over maintaining its competitive rate, business leaders and economists have warned. 

The hike was sharper than expected and means the headline rate of British corporation tax will now be exactly double the Republic's long-standing rate of 12.5%.