4 ms·

The tax story in Ireland is incredible. The corporate tax rate is significantly lower than other nations, and often times, the government is willing to make spe

by sargun 14y ago

The tax story in Ireland is incredible. The corporate tax rate is significantly lower than other nations, and often times, the government is willing to make special concessions, or give tax rebates for companies intending on making long term commitments (Amazon is best known for making these deals).

eoin_murphy 14y ago
That and they probably just got a huge grant for putting their first translation in Irish... But yes, the tax laws in Ireland are incredibly generous, if you're a corporation. I say this as a person just falling into the top tax bracket which means that while most of my wages are taxed at 21% or so (closer to 25%), any bonuses or future wage increases will be taxed at over 50% (once all the levies etc. have been counted in). And there's also the awareness that a significant percentage of that goes towards repaying bondholders in Anglo Irish bank or towards public services who refuse to restructure or update 50 year old work practices. (sorry, rant over) There is also the fact that it's an English speaking country with a pool of relatively highly educated employees who are used to dealing with American businesses. Wages are relatively low compared to the US or England (well, London anyway) and you can have the best and brightest of Europe can relocate with no visa issues (once you can convince them to relocate to a rainy island in the North Atlantic)
- rpm4321 14y ago
  Hey Eoin, couple of quick question for you if you don't mind. I know you're probably not a tax lawyer, but what's the personal capital gains situation like over there? Also, just wondering what "morale" (for lack of a better word) is like now, given all the bailouts, budget crises, and even church scandals. All you hear about Ireland in the US media these days seems to be doom and gloom. Is there a chance, given the public's hostile reaction to the bank bailouts and economic crisis, that Ireland could tack left and start rolling back its advantageous tax rates? Thanks in advance.
  - roel_v 14y ago
    "Is there a chance, given the public's hostile reaction to the bank bailouts and economic crisis, that Ireland could tack left and start rolling back its advantageous tax rates?" It won't be the public's hostile reaction that will raise Irish taxes, but EU pressure.
  - pbiggar 14y ago
    The public loves the tax rates, because of announcements like this. Creating jobs is what stimulates the economy, and the tax lost from corporate tax shenanigans are more than made up for by the creation of thousands of jobs from US multi-nationals setting up shop in Dublin.
  - eoin_murphy 14y ago
    Capital Gains Tax: I'm not a tax lawyer but there's good advice here: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/capital_taxes/capital_gains_tax.html http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/capit... Morale wise, again I don't know. I'm currently out in India but when I left 6 months ago there was (I think) a sense of just shrugging the shoulders and getting on with life. At this point, more scandals, bailouts & controversies would just be adding to the pile. People will complain but there won't be any kind of mass movement in protest. We voted out the political party who were in power during the boom years and I see now that they're back to the second most popular party in the country. I know a lot of young, very talented people don't see a future for themselves in the country, don't see the point in trying to fix a very conservative system and just leaving (this would be why we have a relatively low unemployment rate compared to say, Spain). The only way we'll roll those rates back is if the EU forces the changes. The public aren't angry with companies or multinationals. They're angry with private banks, a government which made private debt public on the insistence of the EU and with the EU which is forcing extreme hardship to repay other EU banks. Please note, I'm not saying the people or the Irish government is not culpable for the current crisis - particularly the banking regulator - but rather just trying to outline what the public see as being the problem.
    - rpm4321 14y ago
      Thanks Eoin, appreciate it.
dmoo 14y ago
Just for the record a table showing comparative tax rates in Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe Ireland is low but not the lowest. The 12.5% in Ireland is a tax on profits, a corporation would typically pay other taxes (VAT - PRSI) etc

by sargun 14y ago

eoin_murphy 14y ago

That and they probably just got a huge grant for putting their first translation in Irish... But yes, the tax laws in Ireland are incredibly generous, if you're a corporation. I say this as a person just falling into the top tax bracket which means that while most of my wages are taxed at 21% or so (closer to 25%), any bonuses or future wage increases will be taxed at over 50% (once all the levies etc. have been counted in). And there's also the awareness that a significant percentage of that goes towards repaying bondholders in Anglo Irish bank or towards public services who refuse to restructure or update 50 year old work practices. (sorry, rant over) There is also the fact that it's an English speaking country with a pool of relatively highly educated employees who are used to dealing with American businesses. Wages are relatively low compared to the US or England (well, London anyway) and you can have the best and brightest of Europe can relocate with no visa issues (once you can convince them to relocate to a rainy island in the North Atlantic)

rpm4321 14y ago
Hey Eoin, couple of quick question for you if you don't mind. I know you're probably not a tax lawyer, but what's the personal capital gains situation like over there? Also, just wondering what "morale" (for lack of a better word) is like now, given all the bailouts, budget crises, and even church scandals. All you hear about Ireland in the US media these days seems to be doom and gloom. Is there a chance, given the public's hostile reaction to the bank bailouts and economic crisis, that Ireland could tack left and start rolling back its advantageous tax rates? Thanks in advance.
- roel_v 14y ago
  "Is there a chance, given the public's hostile reaction to the bank bailouts and economic crisis, that Ireland could tack left and start rolling back its advantageous tax rates?" It won't be the public's hostile reaction that will raise Irish taxes, but EU pressure.
- pbiggar 14y ago
  The public loves the tax rates, because of announcements like this. Creating jobs is what stimulates the economy, and the tax lost from corporate tax shenanigans are more than made up for by the creation of thousands of jobs from US multi-nationals setting up shop in Dublin.
- eoin_murphy 14y ago
  Capital Gains Tax: I'm not a tax lawyer but there's good advice here: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/capital_taxes/capital_gains_tax.html http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/capit... Morale wise, again I don't know. I'm currently out in India but when I left 6 months ago there was (I think) a sense of just shrugging the shoulders and getting on with life. At this point, more scandals, bailouts & controversies would just be adding to the pile. People will complain but there won't be any kind of mass movement in protest. We voted out the political party who were in power during the boom years and I see now that they're back to the second most popular party in the country. I know a lot of young, very talented people don't see a future for themselves in the country, don't see the point in trying to fix a very conservative system and just leaving (this would be why we have a relatively low unemployment rate compared to say, Spain). The only way we'll roll those rates back is if the EU forces the changes. The public aren't angry with companies or multinationals. They're angry with private banks, a government which made private debt public on the insistence of the EU and with the EU which is forcing extreme hardship to repay other EU banks. Please note, I'm not saying the people or the Irish government is not culpable for the current crisis - particularly the banking regulator - but rather just trying to outline what the public see as being the problem.
  - rpm4321 14y ago
    Thanks Eoin, appreciate it.

dmoo 14y ago

Just for the record a table showing comparative tax rates in Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe Ireland is low but not the lowest. The 12.5% in Ireland is a tax on profits, a corporation would typically pay other taxes (VAT - PRSI) etc