If the OECD’s initiative on stamping out tax avoidance fails, then Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate could be undermined as high tax countries take unilateral action, according to the head of tax policy at the OECD, Pascal Saint-Amans.

Ireland is not a tax haven and has nothing to fear from proposed legislation that aims to clamp down on tax avoidance by multinationals, according to the head of tax policy at the OECD.

The Government has played an active role in developing the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting report, according to the organisation’s head of tax policy, Pascal Saint-Amans.

The OECD is working to overhaul structures which big multinationals, including many US tech giants, use to shield tens of billions of dollars of income from taxes, writes Tom Bergin.

The Government is very aware the country’s corporate tax regime has to be changed, according to the economist who has drawn up a blueprint to plug tax loopholes for multinationals.

The G20 has backed afundamental rethink of the rules on taxing multi-national companies, taking aim at loopholes used by firms such as Apple and Google to avoid billions in taxes.

Multinationals that use countries’ tax regimes to avoid or minimise the amount of tax they pay face renewed pressure after the OECD presented its report on the steps needed to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.