Meeting to consider EU proposal on corporate tax

CORPORATE TAXATION will be on the agenda when an interim all-party Dáil committee chaired by Fine Gael deputy Charles Flanagan meets officials from the Department of Finance this afternoon at Leinster House.

The purpose of the meeting is to consider whether a new EU proposal for a consolidated system of calculating the tax base of businesses operating in the EU complies with the principle of subsidiarity. This provides that, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the EU shall act only when particular objectives, because of their scale or effects, can be better achieved at EU level.

“These CCCTB plans could have serious implications for the way businesses across the EU manage their tax affairs. We need to make certain that any proposed changes at EU level will not negatively impact on Ireland,” Mr Flanagan said. “Although the CCCTB does not propose to alter member states’ individual corporate tax rates, it does plan to streamline the system for calculating the tax base of businesses in the EU.

“This committee intends to investigate whether the proposal complies with the principle of subsidiarity. The Dáil is obliged to give a response to the EU on the plans later this month, and the committee deliberations will inform this process,” the committee chairman added.

An Oireachtas statement said the CCCTB proposal “aims to reduce the administrative burden, compliance costs and legal uncertainties that businesses in the EU currently face in complying with 27 different systems for determining their taxable profits”.

“Under the plans, a ‘one-stop shop’ system would be established for companies to file their tax returns and would enable them to consolidate all their profits across the EU.”