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> [...] considering they don't pay any taxes while extracting massive amounts of value from the country. The EU should talk to Ireland then. EU countries are t

by tpush 5y ago

> [...] considering they don't pay any taxes while extracting massive amounts of value from the country. The EU should talk to Ireland then. EU countries are the anti-social tax havens here that encourage international companies to not pay taxes.

josefx 5y ago
You know the world would be a weird place if three people robbed a bank and you only prosecute one while the other two loudly argue over finding a new fall guy for the next robbery.
- tpush 5y ago
  That analogy obviously doesn't work at all. Here's the thing: On one hand you have companies trying to minimize taxes any (legal) way they can, and on the other you have countries saying "Here you can (legally) minimize your taxes!". Any rational thought process is going to conclude that curbing #2 is the only realistic option to tackle that problem; see the global 15% minimum corp tax. That's why your analogy doesn't work: Here 'prosecuting one the 3 bank robbers' actually prevents further robberies, and is also the only practical way to prevent any further robberies.
  - josefx 5y ago
    > Here's the thing: On one hand you have companies trying to minimize taxes any (legal) way they can, and on the other you have countries saying "Here you can (legally) minimize your taxes!". Problem is at least with the Ireland case was that there were backroom deals that no one else could be aware of when taxes should be applied equally to everyone. In fact that last part is kinda required by various trade agreements which is the reason most European countries could get so pissed of at Ireland, not the low taxes, but the secrecy in how it applied tax laws to specific heavyweights. Ireland: Nothing wrong here, the plans where publicly available in a disused lavatory labeled beware of the leopard. Everyone with a direct line to our finance minister could have asked and we would have told them how to apply. Totally nothing illegal going on here.
Bayart 5y ago
>The EU should talk to Ireland then. The problem with the way the EU is structured, is that it's very easy for one or two countries to put their foot down and keep the status quo. See what's happened with Poland and Hungary. But you can also see things like Germany quietly sabotaging any defense program and anything happening outside of NATO or turning energy transition programs into a joke. I think it led us in an absolutely dreadful situation strategically, economics included. Britain might have the last word on this one.

by tpush 5y ago

josefx 5y ago

You know the world would be a weird place if three people robbed a bank and you only prosecute one while the other two loudly argue over finding a new fall guy for the next robbery.

tpush 5y ago
That analogy obviously doesn't work at all. Here's the thing: On one hand you have companies trying to minimize taxes any (legal) way they can, and on the other you have countries saying "Here you can (legally) minimize your taxes!". Any rational thought process is going to conclude that curbing #2 is the only realistic option to tackle that problem; see the global 15% minimum corp tax. That's why your analogy doesn't work: Here 'prosecuting one the 3 bank robbers' actually prevents further robberies, and is also the only practical way to prevent any further robberies.
- josefx 5y ago
  > Here's the thing: On one hand you have companies trying to minimize taxes any (legal) way they can, and on the other you have countries saying "Here you can (legally) minimize your taxes!". Problem is at least with the Ireland case was that there were backroom deals that no one else could be aware of when taxes should be applied equally to everyone. In fact that last part is kinda required by various trade agreements which is the reason most European countries could get so pissed of at Ireland, not the low taxes, but the secrecy in how it applied tax laws to specific heavyweights. Ireland: Nothing wrong here, the plans where publicly available in a disused lavatory labeled beware of the leopard. Everyone with a direct line to our finance minister could have asked and we would have told them how to apply. Totally nothing illegal going on here.

Bayart 5y ago

>The EU should talk to Ireland then. The problem with the way the EU is structured, is that it's very easy for one or two countries to put their foot down and keep the status quo. See what's happened with Poland and Hungary. But you can also see things like Germany quietly sabotaging any defense program and anything happening outside of NATO or turning energy transition programs into a joke. I think it led us in an absolutely dreadful situation strategically, economics included. Britain might have the last word on this one.