Government Signs OECD BEPS Multilateral Order to Tackle Aggressive Tax Planning by Multinationals

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 26 -- The Ireland Department of Finance issued the following news release:

An Taoiseach, Leo Vardakar TD, has this week, on behalf of the Government, signed an Order that brings Ireland one step closer to ratifying the OECD Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). The Convention, which aims to tackle aggressive tax planning by multinationals and facilitate businesses to operate internationally on a more level playing field also helps Ireland to remain competitive in attracting foreign investment here. The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, jointly brought a memo to Government with An Taniaste, Simon Coveney TD on the matter this week.

The Programme for a Partnership Government states that Ireland will "engage constructively with any measures to work towards international tax reform" and "will work with our international partners in tackling aggressive international tax planning through the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative." The move this week brings the Government a step closer to meeting that objective.

Welcoming the signing of the Order, Minister Donohoe said "This is an important step in our work to ratify the BEPS Multilateral Convention. Once fully ratified this will introduce an important anti-abuse clause into our double taxation treaties, of which we have 74 in existence, and ensure that Ireland is meeting our commitments under the OECD BEPS project. Ensuring that a more level playing field exists and that, by working together, appropriate standards are set internationally is key to tackling aggressive tax planning and ensuring that multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax. This progress marks another step in delivering the programme of corporate tax reform, which is detailed in Ireland's Corporation Tax Roadmap, and which I published just last month, and points to the direction of travel set by the Irish Government in this area for the years ahead."