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>“We need to be careful and ensure that the margin for maneuver given by the GDPR doesn’t lead to an attractiveness competition between EU countries, as is alre

>“We need to be careful and ensure that the margin for maneuver given by the GDPR doesn’t lead to an attractiveness competition between EU countries, as is already the case for taxation,” Marie-Laure Denis, France’s new chief privacy regulator, warned the French parliament in January, in a clear reference to Ireland. Of course the big and wealthy countries in the EU want to make sure that the smaller countries aren't attractive for businesses. It reminds me of Macron's proposal to screw over truckers from Eastern Europe. These regulators knew that GDPR was going to have an effect like this. Why are people acting surprised now? Whenever I see talk that pertains to the Irish not doing enough with the tech companies it's always politicians from countries like France and Germany. I'm guessing that they don't like that tech companies set up shop in a country that isn't theirs.

peteretep 8y ago
> Of course the big and wealthy countries in the EU want to make sure that the smaller countries aren't attractive for businesses Where “not attractive for business” means “weak rule of law” tho
stakhanov 8y ago
> Of course the big and wealthy countries in the EU want to make sure that the smaller countries aren't attractive for businesses. I'm not seeing that kind of thing happening at all. It's just that the equation of how much to win (for a large number of Dollars brought into Ireland when Amazon opens a data center, for example), versus how much to lose (in lost regulatory power, tax revenue etc when domestic companies start asking for the same deal) looks different for a small country than it does for a large country. ...that is also the reason why tax havens tend to be small island countries. A country like Bermuda has a lot to gain from a zero-corporate-tax tax regime if it means it can fill the island with banks and law firms and little to lose if it has next to zero domestic economy and therefore it is by definition the case that the loss in tax revenue pertains to income that would have otherwise been taxed elsewhere anyway.
- tomatocracy 8y ago
  The small island nation as tax haven is more of a stereotype than an absolute truth. If you look at it objectively, most observers say the US is either the biggest or second biggest tax haven in the world. Eg see this article https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-30/u-s-seen-as-world-s-second-biggest-tax-haven-after-switzerland https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-30/u-s-seen-...
  - stakhanov 8y ago
    The article you linked to requires login, so it's difficult for me to comment on what's written there. -- The viewpoint I'm coming from is this: Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates Sort by corporate tax rate. Look at the ones that say 0%. Notice how many of them are island nations. The list goes Anguilla, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, ...
    - JeanMarcS 8y ago
      I think it’s because it combines 2 factors. First, those islands hadn’t other ressources to sell. So to attract money in their banks they started no tax laws And then it’s a nice place to spend a couple of days since they build hotels with the money they won on getting the no tax regulation.
CalRobert 8y ago
It makes sense that countries trying to follow the rules will be the ones complaining about those skirting them. You're not very well going to see complaints from Ireland about itself, are you? Also, if Ireland wanted to be competitive for business they'd actually do something about having near-SF rents with 20-30%-SF wages. Or maybe try to foster our own companies for a change.

peteretep 8y ago

> Of course the big and wealthy countries in the EU want to make sure that the smaller countries aren't attractive for businesses Where “not attractive for business” means “weak rule of law” tho

stakhanov 8y ago

> Of course the big and wealthy countries in the EU want to make sure that the smaller countries aren't attractive for businesses. I'm not seeing that kind of thing happening at all. It's just that the equation of how much to win (for a large number of Dollars brought into Ireland when Amazon opens a data center, for example), versus how much to lose (in lost regulatory power, tax revenue etc when domestic companies start asking for the same deal) looks different for a small country than it does for a large country. ...that is also the reason why tax havens tend to be small island countries. A country like Bermuda has a lot to gain from a zero-corporate-tax tax regime if it means it can fill the island with banks and law firms and little to lose if it has next to zero domestic economy and therefore it is by definition the case that the loss in tax revenue pertains to income that would have otherwise been taxed elsewhere anyway.

tomatocracy 8y ago
The small island nation as tax haven is more of a stereotype than an absolute truth. If you look at it objectively, most observers say the US is either the biggest or second biggest tax haven in the world. Eg see this article https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-30/u-s-seen-as-world-s-second-biggest-tax-haven-after-switzerland https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-30/u-s-seen-...
- stakhanov 8y ago
  The article you linked to requires login, so it's difficult for me to comment on what's written there. -- The viewpoint I'm coming from is this: Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates Sort by corporate tax rate. Look at the ones that say 0%. Notice how many of them are island nations. The list goes Anguilla, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, ...
  - JeanMarcS 8y ago
    I think it’s because it combines 2 factors. First, those islands hadn’t other ressources to sell. So to attract money in their banks they started no tax laws And then it’s a nice place to spend a couple of days since they build hotels with the money they won on getting the no tax regulation.

CalRobert 8y ago

It makes sense that countries trying to follow the rules will be the ones complaining about those skirting them. You're not very well going to see complaints from Ireland about itself, are you? Also, if Ireland wanted to be competitive for business they'd actually do something about having near-SF rents with 20-30%-SF wages. Or maybe try to foster our own companies for a change.