Official data may be understating the amount of corporation tax paid by the manufacturing and information and communications technology (ICT) sectors, according to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.
Figures from the Revenue Commissioners show that around 70% of Ireland's corporation tax revenues have come from just three broad sectors - manufacturing, ICT and financial and insurance activities.
However, in a blog post, Ifac states that many ICT and pharma groups have subsidiaries involved in activities outside their main business, such as treasury operations.
"Some of these subsidiaries make sizable corporation tax payments," the blog post states.
Looking at data from the Internal Revenue Service in the US, Ifac estimates that the manufacturing and ICT sectors accounted for around 87% of the corporation tax paid by large US-owned multinationals in Ireland between July 2016 and June 2023.
According to Ifac, this means corporation tax may be even more concentrated than previously thought.
"This matters when assessing how exposed Ireland’s corporation tax revenues are to tariffs and US trade policy changes more generally.
"So far, tariff hikes have focused only on goods, while ICT services have not been directly impacted - for now, at least," Ifac states.
