French and German officials are pressing Ireland to increase its low corporate tax rate

Is Ireland going to revise the magic corporate income tax of 12.5%?

I wonder what will happen with the Romania 's 16% flat tax rate and the Hungarian's government plans to follow the same policy, given the fact that both nations are currently financially assisted by the same guys, as the ones currently stretching Irish republic sovereignity.

Amplify’d from www.ft.com

French and German officials are pressing Ireland to increase its low corporate tax rate in return for an aid package, setting the stage for a showdown over a policy long resented by Dublin’s European partners.

Ireland views the corporate tax rate, set at 12.5 per cent, as the cornerstone of its industrial policy. On Thursday Irish officials reiterated their determination to protect it. “It’s non-negotiable,” Mary Coughlan, the deputy prime minister, told parliament.

Dublin’s strident objections could well keep it out of any final package.

“Without an increase in tax intake, the deficit can’t be reined in,” added a German government official, though he added that the size of any corporate tax increase had yet to be discussed. “That depends on [Ireland’s] financing needs, which are still unclear.”

Olli Rehn, the EU’s top economic official, has implied that he backs a corporate tax rise, saying Ireland should no longer consider itself a low-tax nation.

“The IMF, ECB and European Commission must realise that any increase in our corporation tax rate would ultimately make us more economically dependent, not less so on our European Union partners,” said Peter Keegan, Ireland country head for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Read more at www.ft.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fkrk