As the government moves today to decide on Ireland’s tax rate, it’s worth recalling that in 2020 all government parties explicitly assured voters they would retain Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax regime if elected.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens, like many parties in Ireland, use the website “WhichCandidate.ie”, which is operated by University of Limerick.
This website allows parties and candidates to enter their positions on various policy issues, thus helping voters to discover which candidate or party most aligns with their own values so they can decide who to vote for.
At the 2020 General Election, under the question, “Should corporation taxes be increased or decreased?”, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael answered the rate should “stay the same.”
Fine Gael included a brief explanation of their stance:
“Fine Gael is committed to the 12.5% Corporation Tax rate and the retention of national sovereignty over taxation policy. We will continue to engage constructively on international tax reform, while critically analysing proposals that may not be in Ireland’s long term interests.”
Additionally, Fine Gael’s 2020 election manifesto references Ireland’s Corporation Tax Roadmap, which states:
“The cornerstone of this policy is the long-term and continuing commitment to the 12.5% corporation tax rate.”
While Fianna Fáil did not include a blurb for their WhichCandidate answer, their 2020 election manifesto clearly states:
“Retain and protect our 12.5% Corporate Tax Rate: The stability, certainty and competitiveness of our Corporate Tax rate is the cornerstone of our Foreign Direct Investment strategy. Fianna Fáil is fully committed to defending it. We will maintain our 12.5% Corporate Tax rate.”
Though the Green Party answered the WhichCandidate quiz by saying that they think corporation taxes should be increased, they clarified that they were only talking about closing tax loopholes, adding: “If multinationals paid 12.5% tax in Ireland we would be more than happy.”
Moreover, the Greens’ election manifesto said:
“[We would] make corporate tax sustainable at the 12.5% rate by supporting the OECD process for global corporate tax reform which aims to stop unfair tax avoidance practices.”
Now that the OECD is pressuring Ireland to raise its corporate tax rate to 15%, the government has been teetering for weeks, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar indicating the government may be about to crack on the issue.
Taoiseach casts doubt for the first time on Ireland’s commitment to 12.5pc corporation tax rate https://t.co/OLA2lt1LhE
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) September 20, 2021
Leo Varadkar: Corporation tax changes 'won’t impact average Irish business' https://t.co/CaZknNhW0o
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) September 21, 2021
Moreover, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said this week that he is “hopeful” that Ireland will sign up to the OECD agreement.
A ‘make or break’ Cabinet meeting on Thursday will examine revised OECD proposals which are likely to see Ireland abandon its 12.5% corporate tax rate https://t.co/mH1ogdTTtn
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) October 5, 2021
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was quoted on Tuesday as saying Ireland has changed its position on its corporation tax.
Good of the French finance minister to let us knowhttps://t.co/SFPOEFy5vQ
— Conor Gallagher (@ConorGallaghe_r) October 5, 2021
A recent Irish Times poll showed that 3 in 4 Irish voters oppose a corporation tax change.
Paschal Donohoe looks set to ask Cabinet colleagues to give clearance for Ireland to sign up to an OECD deal that would mean the end of Ireland’s 12.5 per cent tax rate and its replacement with a rate of 15 per cent.https://t.co/O91zOWv2HF
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) October 7, 2021