Ireland has the most efficient business tax system in the EU, a new report shows.
Consultants PwC and the World Bank ranks Ireland sixth in the world and first within the EU for the ease with which a business based here can pay its taxes.
It finds a typical business here would have to spend just 80 hours a year complying with the Irish tax regime compared to the European average of almost 180 hours and a massive 454 in Bulgaria.
The report covers 189 economies worldwide and looks at all taxes paid by businesses.
It shows that a typical Irish company spends just over a quarter of its total commercial profit in taxes, spends two weeks dealing with its tax affairs and makes a tax payment nearly every six weeks.
Worldwide this compares to a typical company paying half of its commercial profit in taxes, spending over seven weeks dealing with its tax affairs and making a tax payment every two weeks.
The report focuses on three indicators which are used to determine the overall ease of paying taxes. The first is the time it take to comply and Ireland ranked fourth in the EU with 80 hours. The average time to comply across the EU is 179 hours, with Luxembourg's 55 hours one of the lowest and Bulgaria's 454 the highest.
It also examines the cost of taxes, which is measured by the total tax rate - Ireland is ranked fourth in the U with 25.7%. The average total tax rate for the region is 41.1% with the amounts varying from a low of 19.8% in Croatia to a higher of 65.8% in Italy.
The third indicator is the number of tax payments made. Ireland's number of payments is nine and compared to a European average of 13.1.
"While no-one likes paying tax, the Irish tax system makes it relatively easy to comply with the rules and is much less bureaucratic system compared to other EU countries," commented Feargal O'Rourke, head of tax at PwC Ireland.
He said the survey demonstrates that, having simpler tax systems with competitive business tax rates and a robust and transparent tax regime, gives Ireland a real advantage in the market for attracting direct investment.
"The credit for this can be shared between legislators, Revenue and practitioners who work collaboratively on a wide range of issues to make Ireland an easy country in which to do business. The survey confirms that Ireland's tax system is the most effective and straightforward in the EU," he added.
