Staff of Reuters 2 minutes Read this article (Adds background on Irish position) Reuters, DUBLIN, July 1 – A person familiar with the conference told Reuters that Ireland declined to sign a statement approved by 130 of the 139 countries negotiating a global revamp of cross-border taxation of multinationals at the Paris-based OECD. A request for comment from the office of Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is negotiating on Ireland’s behalf at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, was not returned. The 130 countries signed a statement supporting plans for a tax rate of at least 15% and taxing more of the profits of the world’s largest corporations in the countries where they are earned. According to the source, Ireland voiced general agreement with the statement at the conference, but reservations about setting a rate of at least 15%. With a 12.5 percent rate that has attracted some of the world’s largest corporations, Ireland stands to lose more than others from the reform. Donohoe, who is also the president of the euro zone’s grouping of finance ministers, has stated repeatedly that any agreement should allow small nations like Ireland to utilize tax competitiveness as a lever to compensate for larger countries’ natural advantages in luring employment and large investments. Low-tax jurisdictions such as Ireland and Luxembourg, according to critics, benefit disproportionately from multinational investment, with multinationals employing one out of every eight Irish workers. Donohoe also stated that he expects any final agreement to allow enterprises to deduct a portion of their tax bills through research and development, which is a crucial feature for Ireland. According to his office, Donohoe was scheduled to conduct a press conference on the matter at 1800 GMT (Reporting by Conor Humphries; additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alistair Bell)/n
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