Cantillon: Tax broadside will only raise fears over Sinn Féin

There was a certain irony in Tuesday's broadside by Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy on Ireland's corporate tax regime being delivered on the same day that the Revenue Commissioners published the tax defaulters list for the first quarter of this year.

Those settlements amounted to €24.7 million, covering various trades and professions from barbers and butchers to medical consultants and engineers.

Around the time that the list was being published, Carthy was arguing in the European parliament that Ireland’s reputation as an “enabler of massive tax avoidance for large corporations” was justified.

The Midlands-North West MEP had a cut at the last government for the manner in which it abolished the controversial "double Irish" tax structure, noting that companies such as Google and Microsoft have until 2021 to restructure their tax affairs.

"My home country of Ireland has a reputation as an enabler of massive tax avoidance for large corporations and the wealthy in society and unfortunately the perception is true," he told the parliament during a debate on a European Commission antitax avoidance package.

He said the loopholes in the Irish tax system “have been designed to perfectly implement the loopholes in US tax law to benefit massive US corporations”.

Traditionally, Irish politicians, civil servants and diplomats have been on the same page in relation to our 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate, to avoid giving oxygen to calls from the likes of France and Germany for some form of harmonisation.

It is also designed to copperfasten the social contract we have with foreign multinationals that if they bring high-quality jobs to Ireland and stimulate economic activity, we’ll tread lightly when it comes to corporation tax.

Ironically, when the vote was taken, Carthy rejected the commission proposal – along with the vast majority of Irish MEPs.

In a statement, Sinn Féin said it had welcomed some of the initiatives, but ultimately voted against the overall package amid fears it could infringe on the tax sovereignty of member states.

It is not clear if Carthy went on a solo run or was merely articulating the party’s view but his speech might only serve to copperfasten fears among the professional classes here that Sinn Féin cannot be trusted on the economy.