Sir, – It is certainly newsworthy that at least three Irish citizens by birth have made it into the international ranks of the billionaires on the Forbes list (Home News, March 5th)on the basis of their merits and achievements as well as their good fortune, and in some cases with considerable help at crucial stages along the way from decisions obtained from the Irish State.
Those in their situation who continue to reside mainly in Ireland, usually the scene of their first successes, would be entitled to some sense of altruistic satisfaction from ignoring accountancy advice, knowing the acute difficulties of the Exchequer and the sacrifices that everyone has to make, which many can ill afford.
The justification most often given for those choosing the alternative of residing abroad for tax purposes is that the majority of their business, even up to 95 per cent, takes place abroad, while tax continues to be paid here on income arising from all their Irish activities. It seems to be rare that the principal residence abroad is the site of more of their business activity than Ireland. It is a great pity that so few of our most successful movers and shakers including household names are regularly accessible to give public advice, encouragement and leadership over the air waves or in print interviews, with some notable exceptions. Perhaps it is a desire to avoid impertinent and small-minded questions that might be asked about their tax status.
Colm Keena (Business, March 6th) suggests that one of the above-mentioned billionaires, Denis O’Brien, the largest shareholder in INM, might personally be in a position to help it avoid a debt write-down and the associated moral hazard. However, the taxpayers of this country might feel they had a prior call on any available generosity.
Contrary to the theory that tax is still paid on all Irish income by those who become non-resident, there must have been a loophole that allowed quite legally tens of millions of pounds in capital gains tax not to be paid on the enormous short-term profit in the late 1990s from the sale of the second mobile phone licence, because coincidentally and, we are assured, for other reasons the principal beneficiary had moved residence abroad.
An ex-gratia payment equivalent to the amount of capital gains tax that would otherwise have been due, without prejudice to claims about the validity or otherwise of the findings of the Moriarty Report, would go a long way to removing irksome barriers to the public appreciation of someone who clearly has much to give the Irish people, the Irish media, and some of the poorest countries in the world. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN MANSERGH,
Tipperary.