The Department of Finance held the third meeting of the Business Tax Stakeholder Forum at Government Buildings on Merrion Street last Friday morning. The meeting was chaired by Clare Costello (Acting Head of Tax for the Department of Finance). A delegation from the Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I, attended the meeting. Representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce, the Law Society, Enterprise Ireland, IBEC, and the Irish Tax Institute were also in attendance, as well as representatives from Revenue and the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.
The agenda for these meetings is driven by the Department of Finance and the meetings are an opportunity to update stakeholders on the latest in tax policy on both the domestic and international fronts. Stakeholders in turn provide feedback to the Department of Finance on the matters raised.
On the domestic front, the main topics of discussion were the first Participation Exemption Feedback Statement and the Strawman proposal, the review of interest deductibility (expected in Q3 this year), and the recent public consultation on share-based remuneration. The group was also informed that a report on the Funds Sector 2030 review and public consultation is expected by mid-summer. On the review of interest deductibility, the Department advised that this will be multi-year project.
On the international front, the main areas discussed were the recent progress on Amounts A and B of Pillar One, the incoming OECD administrative guidance on Pillar Two, the UN Tax Cooperation initiative, and the latest developments with Ireland’s tax treaty network. Revenue’s Eugene Creighton (Assistant Secretary for International Tax) and John Bradley (Principal Officer – Transfer Pricing) gave a presentation on Ireland’s Competent Authority Function for Dispute Resolution under the Mutual Agreement Procedures (MAPs) and Advanced Pricing Arrangements (APAs).