Re: Its ok
It's never 20% though. There are better rates if you're big enough or have enough friends in the right Party.
If I formed an IT company tomorrow here in Ireland, my profits would be taxed at 12.5% (ignoring the reliefs for new businesses), and I wouldn't have had to lobby anyone to get that rate. Compare with France or Germany where that new business would pay a greater percentage on its profits than an EDF or BASF would.
The EU probe into Apple is not about the Double Irish, but about whether Ireland gave Apple an even lower corporate tax rate: the kind of "sweetheart" tax deal (a form of direct state aid) that large German and French concerns have lobbied for, and got, from their respective governments for years.
I'm glad to see the loophole close. It has given the country a bad name, but now it'll be interesting to see if the US Government in particular addresses the loopholes in its tax laws that allow other forms of revenue stripping to be performed.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
