The rapidly-expanding US company LoJack, which makes electronic devices to find stolen cars, has set up a unit in Ireland to reduce the tax it pays on the profits it makes outside the US.
LoJack's Dublin office will employ six staff, but the firm's most recent quarterly filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that "substantially all" of its international profits will be taxed in Ireland.
The company is considerably smaller than big multinationals who use their operations here to reduce their tax liability - among them, Microsoft and Google - but it is developing a presence in 25 markets outside the US. International revenues last year amounted to $41 million (€32 million), said a spokesman.
The SEC filing suggests the bulk of such revenues now flow through the Dublin office, which is at Fitzwilliam Quay. The same filing indicates that the opening of the office resulted in an immediate cut of almost three percentage points in the company's effective tax rate.
The company spokesman acknowledged that Ireland's tax treatment of on profits and intellectual property revenue was a consideration when it came here but he would not say whether the Dublin office would be European headquarters for the company.
"Nothing has been said publicly on that," he said.
While many of the US groups here receive grant aid from the IDA Ireland, a spokeswoman for inward investment body said it would not be assisting LoJack. It makes radio transmitters, which are hidden in cars, enables them to be tracked down and recovered if they are stolen.
Revenues grew 31 per cent last year to $190.73 million and net profit grew 77 per cent to $18.44 million. The company expects to increase its revenues this year by 10-12 per cent and net profit by 12-14 per cent.
