Calls for corporation tax hike

UNIONS have called for the Government to increase corporation tax to make international companies contribute more to the crippling economy.

As Taoiseach Enda Kenny prepares to defend the country’s controversially low corporation tax at a key eurozone summit, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said a 2.5% hike would serve the country better than the 2% VAT increase announced in the budget.

ICTU chief economist Paul Sweeney said: “If you put 2.5% on corporation tax it would raise around €850 million, or in that region, which is a lot more than VAT is going to raise.

“We know that US firms are making historically high profits at the moment. I can’t see why firms like Microsoft and Pfizer who use our roads and infrastructure wouldn’t be asked to pay more, the way our citizens are asked to pay more.”