Cabinet to hear US corporate tax reforms a significant challenge for Ireland

Corporate tax reforms planned by the United States represent a significant challenge for Ireland, Ministers will be warned on Tuesday.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is to bring a memo to the Cabinet meeting updating his colleagues on work being done at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the international tax framework.

However, it is thought he will outline the scale of the challenge to Ireland's corporate tax policy posed by a set of corporate tax reforms planned by US president Joe Biden, which would impose a flat rate of tax on foreign earnings of multinationals.

The proposals would be a challenge to Ireland’s revenue base, the wider industrial policy of the State and the economic forecast for the country, Ministers will be told.

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Mr Donohoe on Monday said the proposals could have a “very meaningful effect, and significant effect, on how we conduct corporate tax policy in Ireland”.

“I’ve been saying this moment has been coming for years; it’s now happening, and it will have consequences.”

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath will update Cabinet on spending in the first quarter of the year, with some €3 billion spent on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, almost double the €1.8 billion figure projected last October.

Some €19.5 billion was spent in the first quarter, around €500 million or 3.5 per cent ahead of expectations. This has been cushioned by lower spending on capital projects, but the Cabinet is to be told there has been a significant draw on contingency funds.

Venues

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar is also expected to get Cabinet approval for a law that would ban ticket touting and reselling for large events. The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Bill 2021 is expected to be published later this week.

Once enacted operators of venues with a capacity to hold 1,000 people or more will be able to apply to the Minister for Enterprise for designation of that venue. When designated, the reselling of tickets for above the original sale price will be prohibited.

When a ticket is sold for an event which has been designated, the original seller must be given clear information that tickets cannot be resold for more than face value.

Resellers must also provide information on the original sale price of the ticket and the location of the seat or standing area to which the ticket entitles the holder to gain admission.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee is to bring a plan on regularising undocumented migrants to Cabinet, and also brief colleagues on plans to establish a judicial planning working group to increase the number of High Court judges.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue will being an update on changes to rules governing unfair trading practices in the agriculture sector.