OECD PLAN COULD INCREASE IRELAND'S CORPORATION TAX TAKE - The new global template for taxing multinationals could lead to more corporation tax being collected by Ireland, according to the head of the team behind the new plan.
Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, was speaking as the OECD said that up to $240 billion (€213 billion) is being lost annually to exchequers around the world because of aggressive tax planning by multinationals. The final report of the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) project has been published in Paris and looks set to be approved by the G20 heads of state later this year. "This document sends out an extremely strong message to tax planners," Mr Saint Amans told The Irish Times. "The process is now moving on to the implementation phase." He described the report as the "soft law" for global business taxation for the coming decades. The plan is the biggest development in global tax rules in a century. From the point of view of Ireland's interests, Mr Saint Amans said, the fact that the Beps plan seeks to create stronger links between where a multinational has its business substance, and where its profits are taxed, means that it should not be seen as a threat to Ireland's crucial foreign direct investment sector.
***
€1,650 TAX BREAK FOR BUSINESS AND FARMERS - Self-employed business people and farmers will be offered a tax break worth €1,650 over the next five years starting in next week's Budget. This is on top of the -cut in the Universal Social Charge of at least 1.5% - the start of a possible trend over coming years, says the Irish Independent. Finance Minister Michael -Noonan said he will -begin to extend the PAYE tax credit - worth €1,650 - to the self-employed and farmers in Budget 2016. But it is understood Mr -Noonan will commit to -matching the PAYE tax credit in full over the next five years, starting with at least a fifth, or €330, in 2016. The offer to -business and -farmers will be contingent on Fine Gael being returned to power in the upcoming General Election. Fine Gael will also promise to continue to cut income tax, the USC, and PRSI over the next Dáil term. The USC will be the -target of the cuts next Tuesday. -Middle- income earners will pay less than 50% tax on their -salaries. Every euro earned above €33,800 is currently hit with the marginal tax rate of 51%. The Budget will see the total tax rate reduced to at least 49.5% - and possibly 49%. Mr Noonan will signal -further tax cuts if the party gets back into office.
***
TWITTER IRELAND RETURNS TO PROFIT AHEAD OF MAJOR EXPANSION SLATED FOR 2016 - The Irish arm of social media giant Twitter last year returned to profit, new documents show. In an auditor's report lodged with the Companies Office, the documentation confirms that the Dublin-based firm, Twitter International Company returned to profit after recording a loss in 2013, says the Irish Examiner. The firm, which yesterday confirmed co-founder, Jack Dorsey as its permanent chief executive, is set to expand its operations in Dublin next year after recently signing a €92m deal for a much bigger property. Twitter has agreed a 20-year lease for Cumberland House in south central Dublin and is likely to move in the second half of next year. Twitter will pay an initial rent of €4.6m a year to occupy about 85,000 sq ft of office space. This is almost five times the size of its current offices, which total 17,500 sq ft. The profit-making Irish unit of the micro-blogging firm bucked the company- wide loss-making trend last year, with Twitter globally recording pre-tax losses of $578.3m in spite of revenues doubling to $1.4 billion.
***
AIR FRANCE HR CHIEF LOSES HIS SHIRT OVER JOBS - Violence flared at an Air France staff meeting on Monday, and a senior executive had his shirt torn off by protesters, as the airline set out plans to cut thousands of jobs - including the first forced dismissals since the 1990s. A scuffle broke out after demonstrators stormed a room at the group’s headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport where Air France management was outlining 2,900 job cuts, or 5% of total staff, writes the Financial Times. Xavier Broseta, head of human resources, had the shirt ripped from his back by an angry crowd as he made his way out. He was forced to climb a fence to escape, wearing only a pair of trousers and a tie. "I could not believe it, they just started attacking,” said one person close to the unions, who was at the scene. “He looked really shocked as he was rushed out by security over a fence,” he said. Manuel Valls, the French prime minister said he was “outraged by the unacceptable violence by demonstrators at the fringes of Air France works council.” Monday’s incident highlighted the strength of feeling against the proposed cuts, which many industry analysts regard as a last chance for Air France to cut costs and fight back against budget airlines in Europe as well as Middle East long-haul carriers.
