Corporation tax rate back in the news.

The Irish Corporation tax issue is up again in the Eurozone summit.

This is an issue that has never gone away and has come under a constant attack from the French particularly. I had always believed that Ireland would hold firm and eventually the crisis would become so serious that those who demanded a reduction would realise that it cannot be done.

On one hand I know that corporations are getting away with little tax whilst the people are being hit more and more, which is unfair. On the other hand I realise that, as an IT professional, if the multinational investment were to dry up I would be in a lot of trouble with employment. While much of Europe has a right to be resentful of our tax rate, they are actually in denial if they think its just going to be a Government money spinner.

From the Independent today:

According to Jacques Myard, the French people feel ‘‘very strongly about the issue’’.

"How is it that we are helping, for instance Ireland, that they are getting from Brussels our money.

"Some people say 'Okay, we help you, but you also have to help yourself by raising your own taxes and not having a kind of advantage which is unfair competition to our enterprise'."

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He speaks of fairness but the Irish are paying Billions in debts that are not ours. If I were in power I would be reminding the other European leaders of this fact, and that the barely-affordable-as-it-is banking debt we are carrying would be much less affordable should our employment fall through the floor when all the large companies pull out of the country.

The longer this goes on, the more likely I fear that Europe will get its way. Is it right to fear a tax rise like this as much as I am? What do people believe is likely to happen here?

We have next to no chance of any future foreign investment if companies can set up in France and/or Germany and pay the same rate of corporation tax as if they set up here

We really have to resist this to the fullness of our ability

I see Minister for Europe Lucinda Creighton has stated that Ireland is in favour of an amendment to existing treaties as opposed to full change. As far as I am aware, full change would require a referendum while an amendment would not.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1208/eurozone.html

IMO, Enda & Eamon & Lucinda should insist that any change to EU treaties which impact in any way on our tax rates (corporation or otherwise) should be put before the people so that we can all tell Sarkozy & Merkel where to go.

They don't realise that these companies won't move to France, instead they'll move to Hong Kong, or Singapore, and Europe will have lost 100% of the value of having them here.

The government might be stupid, but they aren't so stupid as to underestimate the importance of our corporate tax rate. It is the thing that pulled us from poverty to first world, until it's largess was abused. We should be reducing our income tax to match it, and then we'd truly have a knowledge economy.

As if the French can lecture us, when their banks are as bad as ours were in 2008. If the French didn't have the Germans bailing them out, they'd be heading for bankruptcy themselves.

shnaek said:

They don't realise that these companies won't move to France, instead they'll move to Hong Kong, or Singapore, and Europe will have lost 100% of the value of having them here.

The government might be stupid, but they aren't so stupid as to underestimate the importance of our corporate tax rate. It is the thing that pulled us from poverty to first world, until it's largess was abused. We should be reducing our income tax to match it, and then we'd truly have a knowledge economy.

As if the French can lecture us, when their banks are as bad as ours were in 2008. If the French didn't have the Germans bailing them out, they'd be heading for bankruptcy themselves.

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I fully agree, these jobs would not flow out to Europe, certainly not France. I have dealt with outsourcing and merger projects in IT and the last place companies will go is France. Not just because of corporation taxes but mainly because of the short work week.

I also agree with you income tax suggestion. What I find astonishing is that even Labour and SF see the importance and the benefit of the low corporation tax rate, but are totally blind or unwilling to accept the fact that the same affect is achieved when taxing "rich" people less.