Common EU Corporate Tax Base Would Damage Ireland - IBEC

Business & Finance - Economy

Thursday, 09 September 2010 11:12

Written by Noel Cotter

IBEC, the group that represents Irish business, today said that it remained resolutely opposed to the introduction of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) in the EU.

The group said any such move would do nothing to improve the competitiveness of the EU and would damage the economies of smaller member states, such as Ireland.

IBEC Director General Danny McCoy: "This proposal would almost certainly lead to an increase in companies’ tax bills by transferring taxable profits to the regions with large populations. This would result in lower revenue from corporation profits in smaller countries, which could lead to other taxes being increased to offset this loss of revenue. It would effectively result in a transfer of resources from smaller countries to larger ones.

“In the case of Ireland, which exports the greater part of its output to the larger central economies of the EU, companies would see part of their profits, apportioned to other higher-taxed member states such as Germany or France. These large countries have long been in favour of CCCTB as a first step towards tax harmonisation."