Two pieces for the Irish Examiner this week that look at some developments in Corporation Tax.
First, on changes in royalty flows as a result of the practical ending of “double-irish” type structures and second, on Apple’s 40-year presence in Cork and the taxation of its profits.
Robert Sweeney of TASC writes on the decline of inequality in Ireland.
In sum, income inequality, according to the best evidence, has fallen; Ireland, by conventional measures, has the most progressive tax system in the EU; and Ireland has a very high share of low-work intensity households. It is also the case that in historical terms our inequality is high, and differences in living standards have likely increased. Lower income households basically work as much as the rest of society, and the poorest pay almost the same share of their income in tax as the rich. Facts are facts and needn’t be quarrelled with. But there are many ways to present them.
Here’s a useful paper from the Department of Finance summarising the fiscal response to date to the pandemic: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/84a0c-taking-stock-the-fiscal-response-to-covid-19/
There’s lots of interesting material in it. One such piece is this comparison of deficits for 2020 and 2021 in the euro area.
Here’s a piece from RTE’s Brainstorm series that looks to explain some of the factors behind Ireland’s outlier position in this chart.
Prof. Jim Stewart writes on the Apple judgement here.