Ireland Opposes Biden Administration’s Global Corporate Tax Plan

Appearing Tuesday on Sky News, Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe came out against a Biden administration proposal to introduce a minimum global corporate tax rate of 15 percent.

A transcript is as follows: 

MINISTER PASCHAL DONOHOE: We absolutely want to engage with President Biden and his team, but we do have really significant reservations regarding a global minimum effective tax rate that is at such a level that it means only certain countries and certain size economies can benefit from that rate. We have a really significant concern about that.

ED CONWAY: Do you envision in five years or ten years time their will still be an Irish 12 percent corporate tax rate?

DONOHOE: Yes, I do anticipate there will continue to be a place for a rate such as this and for low rates.

CONWAY: Are you proud of the 12.5 percent tax rate in Ireland?

DONOHOE: I’m proud in the part that it’s played in our economic development that for a country of our scale and size that we were able to grow our economy over many decades. But I also make the case when debating a 12.5 percent rate that it is now only part of the competitive offering of an economy like Ireland.